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Revival Waves 


A Book for all People on the 
Best of all Subjects, 

The Revival Meeting 


Instructions in Every Department of Work 

Preparatory to a Revival, Intelligent 
Work in the Revival, and a Success¬ 
ful Harvesting of Results 
after the Meeting. 


k 



KANSAS CITY, MO. 
HUDSON-KIMBERLY PUB. CO. 

1894 







o? 






ljlGtO« 




TO the: many pastors and churches with 

WHICH I HAVE WORKED 
IN REVIVAE MEETINGS, AND FOR WHOM 
I CHERISH FOND 

RECOEEECTIONS, THIS VOEUME IS RESPECTFUEEY 
DEDICATED. 

By the Author. 


Copyright, 1894, 

By E. banks DILLARD. 




PREFACE. 


W HO has not felt the want of some¬ 
thing short, cheap, and practi-cheap, 
cal, bearing on the three-fold nature of 
the revival meeting? The size, cost, 
and want of practical information have practical, 
rendered many works which are of 
great merit of no use to the average 
church-member. 

Getting ready for the meeting, Getting ready, 
working in the meeting, and following 
up the meeting are not theoretical, but 
practical questions, and need to be 
treated as such. 

We do not claim for this a perfect, 
but -a suggestive outline of revival suggestive, 
work; leaving to force of circumstances 
and Providential leadings perfect free¬ 
dom for action so far as methods are 
concerned; attaching, as we do, more 



6 


PREFACE. 


• importance to spiritual oversight than 

to iron-bound methods. 

With this explanation, we send this 
Pioneer. little pioneer forth to the field; hoping 
it will be the forerunner of great revi¬ 
val waves; a guide to helping hands 
and hearts, amidst the smoke of battle 
Victory. aud the shouts of victory; and last, but 
not least, that it may remain a com¬ 
panion to the saved long after the meet¬ 
ing has passed into history and the 
author has been forgotten. 

E. Banks Dillard. 



CHAPTER I. 


THE EVANGELIST. 


'^HAT the evangelist is here to stay, 
hardly admits of a doubt. Is he 
a God-given or a man-made institu¬ 
tion? When, where, and how may he 
be used? are questions which will 
doubtless commend themselves to the 
thoughtful consideration of every wise 
and successful pastor. Not only so, 
but often the laymen. Women’s Aid 
Societies, Young People’s Unions and 
Sunday-school workers are found in 
the very front, discussing methods of Discussion, 
work, result of revivals, and fitness of 
leaders. 

In civil war, when the foundations war. 
of the government are threatened and 
the tocsin of war calls to arms the 
available men of the nation, great re¬ 
spect is had to the judicious selection 




8 


THE EVANGELIST. 


Leaders. of Icadcrs. So in a special campaign 
waged against the world, the flesh, and 
the devil, in what is generally known 
as the Revival Meeting, too much care 
cannot be exercised in the selection of 
a competent and efficient leader. 

In fact, every worker, from the sex- 
ton np to the occupant of the pnlpit, 
should be chosen with great care; abil¬ 
ity, piety, and a good reputation being 
regarded as essential. In every case, 
let the good of the cause direct in such 
selections, while favoritism and per¬ 
sonal preference are lost in an all-pre¬ 
vailing desire to honor Christ and win 
souls. 

As the leader may be considered the 
most important factor in the meeting 
from a material standpoint, we will 
now turn our attention to him. Sup¬ 
pose we call him Evangelist; though I 
do not wish to use the word in the sense 
of the modern evangelist exclusively, 
but in the sense of a selected leader or 
one who comes on your invitation to 
assume the responsibilities and direct 


Invitation. 



THE EVANGELIST. 


9 


tlie forces of Zion during the special 
effort. That there is need for outside 
help we hope to show farther on. 

No doubt the question is often 
asked, Wouldn’t it be better to have 
nothing to do with evangelists, and is it 
not better to have a continuous revival 
all the year? To such w6 only have ah the year, 
this to say: it depends on the kind of 
evangelist you get and the use you 
make of him while in your church. 

One pastor, who declared to me he^^®^‘°/ 
would never have another evangelist in 
his church, has so far changed his mind 
that he has one employed by the year 
as assistant pastor. 

It is always a dangerous expedient to 
stop doing well, to do better; therefore, 
we would advise those churches which are 
so fortunate as to have a revival all the 
year and conversions at every service, 
not to be weary of well doing, nor kill 
the goose that lays the golden egg. ooiden egg. 

But where one church has a con¬ 
stant revival, a hundred more are plod¬ 
ding along at a poor, dying rate, and 



10 


KVANGEI.IST. 


What are 
doing? 


Who Is he? 


Out of a job. 


will continue so unless some special 
effort is made to draw new supplies of 
grace and fresh anointings of the 
Spirit. It has always been so and 
doubtless will so continue to be. 

It is not a question in this case of 
what we might do or what it would be 
better for us to have, but, What are we 
doing and what is our present condi¬ 
tion? With such questions of a prac¬ 
tical nature do we come to deal, and 
not with speculative theories of what 
might be. 

With the above remarks, we come 
to inquire. Who is the evangelist and 
by whose authority does he come? 
Again, What is his work and how can it 
be accomplished? 

We answer question first by telling 
who he is not. First: He is not nec¬ 
essarily a pastor out of a job; one of 
the wounds which evang lism has re¬ 
ceived in the house of its friends is 
the often-repeated experiment of would- 
be preachers, who have failed at every 
thing else, imposing themselves on the 



kvangelist. 


11 


churclies and parading before the pub¬ 
lic bke Simon Magus, giving out that 
they themselves are the great power of g reat power. 
God. But as water cleanses itself by 
action, so these will soon find their 
level, and the real worth of the true 
evangelist become more appreciated. 
Prejudice will die of starvation, while starvation, 
the voices of these sons of thunder will 
be heard throughout the length and 
breadth of the land. 

Again: He is not necessarily a 
crank, a pessimist, or a sensationalist. 

Nor need he take a contract to furnish'^tra?t? ^ 
the slang on which to feed the morbid 
appetite of the average secular news¬ 
paper reporter. A crank is a splendid 
appendage for a grind-stone, but a terri- Grind-stone, 
ble failure on the wheels of Zion. 

Every pastor knows that an aver¬ 
age secular paper will not publish any secular paper, 
sermon of his unless it has the sensa¬ 
tional element in it. Yet when it comes 
to selecting evangelists, they demand 
for him a regular patent medicine ad¬ 
vertisement; and he who has the most 



12 


KVANGKIwIST. 


Write him up. uiiscrupulous frictids to write him up, 
reporting converts by tlie thousand at 
the rate of a hundred per sermon, not 
ten of which can be found twelve 
months hence, generally is called at 
long range to fashionable churches with 
big pay and great praises. 

After the bat- smoke of battle has 

died away and the church begins to 
waken up to the fact that she is full of 
unconverted material, then the reaction 
comes; and all evangelists are put in 
the balances and weighed together— 
failings and virtues are alike con¬ 
demned, and every man called by the 
name of evangelist is anathematized. 

Again: We beg yon to notice that 
Who is he? the faithful evangelist is a man of God, 
holding his commission under the same 
government and preaching under the 
same “Go ye and teach all nations” as 
does the pastor. 

For the correctness of this position 
we would cite yon to the fact that 
Philip was an evangelist. Read Acts 
21:8: “And the next day we that were 


Philip. 



EVANGELIST. 


13 


of Paul’s company departed, and came 
unto Caesarea: and we entered into the 
house of Philip the evangelist, which 
was one of the seven; and abode with 
him.’^ 

Again: Hear Paul’s instruction to 
Timothy (II.Timothy 4:5): “ But watch Timothy, 
thou ill all things, endure afflictions, 
do the work of an evangelist, make full 
proof of thy ministry.” 

We will only mention one more 
passage, to-wit (Ephesians 4:11-16): 

“And he gave some, apostles; and some, 
prophets; and some, evangelists; and 
some, pastors and teachers; for the 
perfecting of the saints, for the work 
of the ministry, for the edifying of the 
body of Christ: till we all come in the Body of Christ, 
unity of the faith, and of the knowl¬ 
edge of the Son of God, unto a perfect 
man, unto the measure of the stature 
of the fullness of Christ: that we hence¬ 
forth be no more children, tossed to 
and fro, and carried about with every 
wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, 
and cunning craftiness, whereby they 



14 


EVANGELIST. 


lie iu wait to deceive; but speaking 
'“tbe truth in love, may grow up into 
him in all things, which is the head, 
even Christ: from whom the whole 
body fitly joined together and com¬ 
pacted by that which every joint sup- 
plieth, according to the effectual work¬ 
ing in the measure of every part, 
maketh increase of the body unto the 
edifying of itself in love.^^ 

Surely, this instruction is not in¬ 
tended to divorce any of the working 
forces of the church, whether pastors, 
teachers, or evangelists; but to the con¬ 
trary, drawing a practical lesson from 
the functions of the human body, shews 
not only the place for every one, but 
^S7piacl. the demand for every one in his place, 
in order that the whole body may be 
complete and all work in harmony to 
the glory of His kingdom. 

Indeed, the relation is often so close 
that teachers often make pastors, and 
many pastors are very successful as evan- 
gelists. I verily doubt whether any 
'^equipp'^ed.^^^' i^an is thoroughly equipped for the try- 



run nvANonnisT. 


15 


ing and responsible work of an evangel¬ 
ist, who lias not been brought face to 
face with the demands of the field in 
the school of the pastorate. If three 
years in the seminary will fit a man for 
pastor, ten years in the pastorate will 
be as wisely spent as preparatory to the 
responsible calling of the evangelist; 
and even this will only produce a fail¬ 
ure unless God has endowed him with 
special gifts for this line of work. 

That there are men so endowed, I pre¬ 
sume no one will dare to question; but 
it should be remembered that evangel¬ 
ists are no more like Jonah’s gourdJo'i^^'’s8^o"*-d- 
vine than are pastors and teachers. 

Again, the idea that a man must be 
qualified, to teach the ways of right¬ 
eousness, in the school of the devil and'^sch^oVfor 
learn the language of Canaan amidst preachers, 
the vile profanity of the saloon, the 
gambler’s hell, and the harlot’s home, 
is to me a strange commentary on our 
theological seminaries. 

If I were to judge of their fitness 
by the way such men are sought after, warning. 



16 


th:0 evangelist. 


tlien I would urge the endowment of a 
whisky-seller^s chair in all our colleges; 
demand that every theological professor 
should be an expert euchre-player; and 
I would advise all aspiring young men 
to become drunkards as the foundation- 
stone on which to build a career of 
great usefulness in the future. 

It is certainly wise to follow the 
Advice of Paul, advice of Paul as to first proving men; 

then, if found faithful, entrust them 
with the responsibility of leaders. 

But be it known to you that we are 
far from believing that notices in 
secular papers, stories about departed 
mothers, graphic descriptions of mid- 
night horrors painted from actual ex¬ 
periences, are essential to evangelical 
qualifications or desirable supplements 
to the Gospel of Christ. 

I call you to witness that in many 
cases the preacher^s mother or wife is 
the central thought; while Christ and 
the Cross are lost sight of in the flood 
of emotion elicited through sympathy 
for the speaker. 



THK EVANGELIST. 


17 


The modern idea, that a wise pastor 
and a foolish evangelist are of mutual 
importance, has been tried to the detri¬ 
ment of many churches and the com¬ 
promise of much good. 

It is a fact that the nature of the 
preaching will determine the results of ^ preached de- 

^, . termines af- 

the meeting. ter results. 

Many pastors and workers make a 
mistake in looking at various methods a mistake, 
as practiced by different leaders as fruit¬ 
ful sources of harm and magazines over 
which to walk with great caution. That Great caution, 
there is danger we readily admit; but 
as we once told a pastor in regard to 
his deacon locating the devil in thej^^^^j 
organ, by saying, “I have no doubt but 
he is there, but I believe he is in the 
deacon instead of the organ’’: the dan¬ 
ger is in the preaching and not in the 
method. 

Truth will work in most any har¬ 
ness, but error will kick the church to 
pieces, in golden gear. coiden gear. 

If wisdom, discretion, and sound 
logic are essential to the fallowing of 



18 


THK EVANGELIST. 


Wise reapers. 


Truth, sensa¬ 
tional ism, 
excitement. 


A subject o: 
prayer. 


the ground and sowing the seed, how 
much more is it to be desired while 
reaping the golden harvest. Much 
faithful sowing and many well-culti¬ 
vated crops have been wasted for want 
of wise reapers. 

That the Gospel is the power of 
God unto salvation is as true now as 
in the first century; and men are still 
saved by the foolishness of preaching, 
and not foolish preaching. 

Truth is mighty and must prevail, 
;but sensationalism and animal excite¬ 
ment, like forest fires, only survive the 
smoke of the present to leave in their 
wake a blasted field with paralyzed 
effort and a darkened future. 

With these remarks in the way of 
caution, I may be pardoned for sug¬ 
gesting that in the selection of outside 
help in the way of a leader, it should 
be made a matter of prayerful solicitude, 
and the entire church, so far as possible, 
should be brought into harmony and 
hearty sympathy with the move. 

In every case where it is possible, a 



THE KVANGEEIST. 


19 


judicious committee should be sent to commiue« 
investigate and see for themselves. 

Where the man is actively engaged, 
they should attend two or three ser¬ 
vices with a view to a full report on 
their return. This should be done sev¬ 
eral weeks, or months if possible, before 
demanding his services. 

The selection having been made, 
notify him at once, giving him an hon- once, 
est and true statement of your condi¬ 
tion, financially, spiritually, and espe¬ 
cially the material at hand on which 
he will have to work. Never wait 
until you want a man’s services to call 
him, unless you want a man who is no 
account for any one else, as competent 
men are always engaged and none but 
idlers are lying around home waiting 
for a call. 

Don’t try to hurry him away from not hurry 

J J J him away. 

some other field, but exercise patience 
and remember it is the same cause and 
the same Master. It is bad policy to Bad policy, 
leave interest in one place to run the 
risk of finding or working it up in an- 



20 


THE5 evangelist. 


other. He may disappoint you a week 
or so for the sake of those to whom he 
is showing the way of salvation. But 
then, you will have not only more time 
to get ready in, but will have a claim 
on him to do the same for you. 

Then when he comes, don’t be con- 
'^dlpot/'^''”^spicuously absent from the depot, but 
have a committee to meet him. Treat 
him with as much respect as political 
parties do their leaders. If you act as 
though your man didn’t deserve any 
respect, you may rest assured he will 
receive but little. 

So far as the man is concerned, get 
one you are not ashamed of; then don’t 
Don’t be afraid be afraid to speak of him or his work 
whenever it shall be convenient. 

It would be a good idea to have a 
^h^chukh! deception at the church—say in the 
lecture-room—for the purpose of be¬ 
coming acquainted and talking over 
the work; have a few songs and a 
prayer. 

Be free; don’t think of him as a 
stranger, but as your leader, sympa- 



TUK EVANGELIST. 


21 


thizer, and helper. Some members of 
some churches stand off as though the 
evangelist were a leper or a wild beast 
just from the forest. Remember he has 
just left a host of friends and a warm 
meeting, therefore he feels the change 
any way; perhaps he has a beautiful 
home and a loving wife with several 
curly-headed little girls and bright¬ 
eyed, bouncing boys; but they are all ah far away, 
far away, and while you are in the 
bosom of your family, he has not seen 
his for months. Oh, how he needs 
sympathy! How he longs for home 
and loved ones I What a sacrifice he 
is making, eternity alone can tell. Eternity. 

Many persons think of the evangel¬ 
ist as a dead-beat, or at best a nioney- 
gatherer. Alas, th^t many preachers, 
who ought to know better, often in¬ 
dulge in such loose remarks 1 

If the pastor who has preached 
twice on Sunday feels tired and tosses 
on his bed, as he often does half the 
night, with wife to bathe his head and 
children his feet, in his own warm 



22 


the: kvangelist. 


room, in the bosom of his family; how 
must it be with the evangelist who, 
Without home'yvithout homo or loved ones, lies down 
hoiLey^wifh^ all alone in a strange house on a bed in 
wor^d,^'?o which no one has slept for months, 
hand.^ ^without a kind word or helping hand, 
after preaching twice every day for 
weeks and from three to four times on 
Sunday? He has not only preached, 
A busy man. but led aud planned the work for sev¬ 
eral hundred people; received one hun¬ 
dred suggestions from persons who 
only exposed their ignorance, none of 
which agree in wanting the same 
^charges and thing; has been called a Campbellite 
suggestions. and a hard-shell Baptist in the same 
breath; one person saying he has too 
much excitement, and another saying, 
“Why don^t you preach on repent¬ 
ance?^^ one woman saying, “I want 
^f.oy Tost;’ I you to pray for my husband, he drinks, 
child found. another saying, “ Pray for my lost 

boy^’; right in the midst of the sermon, 
a mother holds up her two-year-old 
child for public exhibition ; and three 
girls, whose only redeeming feature is 



THE) EVANGKEIST. 


23 


tHeir teeth, which they make conspicu-^JeX^^'**' 
ous in that they have been giggling 
and nudging- each other all the service, 
are finally given the much-needed re¬ 
proof and some are pleased and some 
mad. In next morning^s mail comes 
the grocer^s bill, the butcher’s bill, and tms. 
perhaps the coal bill, to say nothing of 
the rent; then a postscript from the 
good woman at home to the effect that 
she needs some winter clothes and 
Bessie^s feet are almost on the ground ; 
and then she says, ^‘Do, please, come 
home. I never wanted to see you half 
so bad in all my life and the children 
are always talking about what they 
will do when papa comes home.’^ 

Thus the nerves of the real evangel¬ 
ist are always taxed. Last but not 
least of his troubles is the conscious¬ 
ness that as soon as he lands he is be¬ 
ing sized up; his countenance, his 
dress, his language, even his prayers, 
are regarded as public property; and 
every person in town, from the boy 
who says “Where did you get that hat?’^ 



24 


THB EVANGELIST. 


to the venerable and scholarly pastor, 
is judging his morals, his doctrine, 
and his ability. 

Often while he is trying to benefit 
the church, a large per cent of the 
membership are out among the trashy 
elements of the street, talking in a 
jesting way about ^^That preacher what 
they got over at the Baptist Church.” 
^'^d^n^th^l'Thus the cause of Christ is wounded 
frienL^^^'^in the house of its friends. 

At the same time, the evangelist, 
who has paid his fare out of his own 
pocket, is plainly given to understand 
that if he has a good meeting, he will 
get fair pay for his time; otherwise 
be will be like a poor boy at a husking 
—in other words, severely left. 

These are a few of the roses which 
bloom in the path of the evangelist; 
only a few of the causes which produce 
the midnight tossing, burn the light 
all night, and hang the open watch on 
the head of the bed. 

Now in concluding this chapter, if 
I have been able to throw out a search- 



THE evangelist. 


25 


light by which churches may be en-The^search, 
abled to protect themselves against the 
employment of dangerous and irrespon¬ 
sible men on the one hand, and the better 
and more brotherly consideration of 
faithful men on the other, I shall feel 
that my work has not been in vain. 

“By their fruits ye shall know them. Test*. 

Men do not gather figs of thistles nor 
apples ofthorns.^^ “Be as wise as ser- Qualification, 
pents, and as harmless as doves.” 

“Having once put your hand to the press on. 
plow, never look back.” The Master 
has commanded us to “go into all 
world and preach the gospel to every 
creature.” How dare any man to say, 

“Stay in your own city, or wait until I 
see fit to call for you.” In the language 
of one of the Apostles, “Whether it be 
better to obey God than man, judge ye ” obey God. 
“The harvest is great and the laborers Laborers. . 
are few.” 

“So come with your sickles, ye sons of men, 

And gather together the golden grain. Reaping 
Toil on till the Lord of the harvest come; 

Then join in the glory of the harvest-home.” 



CHAPTER II. 


GETTING READY FOR THE 
MEETING. 


H aving noticed the evangelist in 
the preceding chapter, we now 
come to notice briefly some of the 
causes which seem to demand his pres¬ 
ence. 

We mean no disrespect when we 
say that many of our pastors are wise 
to sow, faithful to cultivate, but are un- 
skilled in harvesting. Many a faithful 
pastor, full of consecration, sound in 
doctrine, and faithful in service, has 
felt the need of outside assistance in 
revival work. 

One of the most faithful pastors in 

Illinois said to me, I have been pastor 

here for eleven years and have never 

had an evangelist before ; but I see my 

mistake, and had I my time to go over 
26 


A mistake. 




GETTING READY FOR 'THE MEETING. 27 


again, I would have a good evangelist 
every year to help gather in the har¬ 
vest.” 

It is rarely the case that you find virtues, 
pastor who is a fine preacher, a good 
pastor, a fine indoctrinator, a success¬ 
ful combatant of error, and at the same 
time a good revivalist; and even though 
such were the case, it would be wise to 
have help and not use him up all at 
once. Such a preacher is worth saving. ^wo ?slZ 

Besides, it won’t hurt him to hear 
some preaching from others. How 
often is it the case that the weary 
working pastor is among those most 
benefited! He has heard himself^sJ!?'^'^ 
preach over and over again until he 
feels the old Gospel would take on new 
life and awaken a deeper feeling in his 
own heart than it ever can from his 
own lips. My experience is that a 
preacher is seldom pleased with his 
own sermons, and while he feeds others, 
his own spiritual pasture is barren. 

Paul longs for the eloquence of^A^ouos^ 
Apollos, and Apollos, tired of his own 



28 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


eloquence, looks forward to the time 
Dogic of Paul, when he can feast on the logic of Paul. 

Surely, of all men, preachers should 
love and sympathize with each other. 
How sublimely unselfish was the utter¬ 
ance of that prince of divines when he 
said, “Whether Paul or Apollos, so we 
preached and so ye believed.” Again, 
“One soweth and another reapeth, but 
^lither^ ‘'°‘hoth rejoice together.” 

HowHhe Christ-like pastor can help 
and encourage the working, self-sacri¬ 
ficing evangelist by opening up the 
way for him to work, using his influ¬ 
ence for him,not only in his own church, 
but in other churches and with other 
pastors I 

Where is the evangelist who would 
be so lost to manhood, to say nothing 
of religion, as not to strengthen such 
a pastor; if need be, smooth out the 
^ thewHnkies^ wriukles iu his field; suggest a raise in 
^salary, an extra purse, a gold watch, 
or a vacation? all of which, to my 
knowledge, have been repeatedly done, 
at the suggestion of the visiting 



gktting ready for the meeting. 29 


brother. How true it is that tlie ‘‘lib¬ 
eral soul shall be made fat, and he that 
watereth shall himself be watered^’! 

Again: Where is the pastor who has 
not seen weeds growing in his field, ^ ® 

yet their nature was such that he dare 
not attempt to cut them down? How 
church dissensions, family and neigh¬ 
borhood qnarrels, as well as popular 
sins among his own flock, break his 
heart and drive sleep from his eyelids! 

They become a mighty cactus; no oneMightycactus. 
can touch them without getting stung 
in a dozen places. 

The very fact that the pastor is on 
the field, that he knows the parties and 
is acquainted with the circmmstances, 
often renders him a Samson in the a Samson, 
churches of an exultant Delilah. To 
say nothing is death to the church; toHeipiess. 
attack them is death to the pastor. 

How many faithful men on the line of 
heroic duty have had their heads cut 
off with a request to resign, and tied on 
with a string of resolves ! 

Deacon Finanghazer pays a hun-^7re(fd?na?s' 



30 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


dred dollars on the salary; therefore, 
if the preacher says anything against 
dancing, his fashionable daughter will 
take offence, and her devoted father 
won’t give but fifty next year. 

Luke McGlue gives another hun- 

Hismaniyson. dred. His mauly son gambles until 
three o’clock on Sunday morning; but 
if the preacher says anything about 
down^ card-playing, the mercury goes down 
fifty degrees in his hide-bound pocket- 
book, until finally the preacher must 
either preach about the Jews, who are 
never there, move, or starve. 

He comes up- But the evangelist comes upon the 

on the scene. 

scene, a stranger, a party to no one’s 
quarrels, a special friend to no one, 
with neither kinfolks nor enemies in 
the place, ignorant of the fashionable 
or damnable sins of the community, 
and on general principles attacks sin 
of every kind without fear or favor; 
with no place to lose and none to 
seek. 

^bilde! ® ® He wields his Damascus blade with 

masterly skill, and in the name of the 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. Si 


Lord demands that Christians reform 
and sinners repent. 

Again : We think the field should 
be surveyed carefully as to its available 
resources, but in no case should the 
question of time be considered. 

Some fields might have a great 
harvest twice the same year, while the 
nature and material surroundings make 
it impossible in some others once in 
five years. 

We have no hesitation in saying 
that the modern idea of an annual 
meeting as practiced by some churches 
is a mistake, and especially so far as 
getting an evangelist is concerned. 

If you wish a good little meeting 
among yourselves, meet every evening; 
have a social meeting, sing, pray, 
testify; have a sermon occasionally from 
the pastor and in this way edify one an¬ 
other ; but don’t plan a great ingather¬ 
ing and burden yourselves with extra unnecessary 
expense to gather where there is com¬ 
paratively nothing to gather, simply 
to say, “ We had our annual meeting.” 



32 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


Time has but little to do with God’s 
plans. The husbandman whose field 
is barren seldom gets his neighbors to 
help harvest: so there is little wisdom 
in planning and praying for a great in¬ 
gathering where there is no available 
material from which to gather. The 
wisest and most successful evangelist 
° ^ never carries with him the material, 
but is forced to yield to circumstances 
and take the field as he finds it. 

This alone will account for the fact 
that an evangelist will have great suc¬ 
cess in one place and very little in the 
^make‘si?u”n-^^xt. Christ fed five thousand men 
gry people. loaves and a few little fishes; 

but it was the food he multiplied, not 
the hungry. 

But while in some cases, as indi¬ 
cated before, too much is expected, 
perhaps the other extreme is more 
likely to prove detrimental to the cause; 
for while some over-estimate, many 
under-estimate the available material 
at hand. 

It is perhaps a question, often, of 



getting ready for The meeting. 33 


more magnitude, as to liow to use ma¬ 
terial than where to get it. There are 
gray-headed fathers, talented sons, 
beautiful daughters, and a dozen 
brothers-in-law of the church, to say 
nothing of the hundred outside the 
pale of affection who seem to rise out ®-\he 
of the ground. 

How often is it the case that men 
are not only reached, but saved, in the 
meetings, after drifting with the cur¬ 
rent for twenty years ! I have in my 
possession a letter from which I make 
the following quotation : “ I had not 
been in a church of any kind for twen-^os<^^for^wen. 
ty-four years until one of your cards 
was handed ^e on the street. I am 
now trusting in Jesus, and intend, by 
the help of God, to live a Christian 
life.’^ 

I remember well an old gentleman 
by the name of Jordan, who lived in 
hearing of the church and had not been 
there, I am credibly informed, for eight¬ 
een years. The pastor’s daughter 
called on Saturday evening and invited 



M getting ready for the meet ING. 


him to come and hear the new preacher. 
To make a long story short, the old 
^eyel^“^“^nian, with streaming eyes and tottering 
steps, came forward and confessed his 
Savior the next day. 

These are only a few of many cases 
of a similar nature which have come 
under our own observation. Oh, my 
brethren! let us lift up our eyes and 
See the field, behold the helds; they are ripe unto 
the harvest. Old men and maidens, 
young men and children are standing 
^ti^eyard ^ ^ the gate of the vineyard. Men of 
little faith and men of no faith, moral¬ 
ists, sceptics, drunkards, and harlots 
Riding alike awaiting the Rider on the 

white horse. horse. Oh, brethren ! who knows 
but we have come to the throne for such 
a time as this? Let us have faith in 
ourselves, faith in the people, and above 
all, faith in God. 

In the battle of New Orleans, Gen¬ 
eral Jackson said, ‘‘ The watchword 
death. to-day is ^Victory or death!’” So let us 
raise the blood-stained and time-hon¬ 
ored banner which streams from old 




GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 35 


Calvary’s rugged brow, and cry, ^‘On 
to the victory ! ” It is a goodly land, 
and in the name of the Lord we are 
able to possess it. 

In view of the crying demands for 
supreme effort, surrounded as we are surrounded by 
by thousands of the unsaved, some fall- 
ing and others dying, shall we content 
ourselves with singing Work for 
Jesus,” or shall we go to work with 
might and main ? 

Let us work as faithfully, as untir-My creed, 
ingly as if everything depended on us ; 
then trust as implicitly in the Lord as 
though nothing depended on us. Let 
us be wise as the children of the world, 
who serve the mammon of unrighteous¬ 
ness. All great movements of 
world, whether of a political, social, or 
financial nature, have to a large extent 
been the fruitage of thought, agitation, 
and effort; so you must meet and talk of 
the work and pray for the meeting. Zeal zeai on fire, 
on fire, truth on wheels, and prayer on 
wdngs will bring heaven near, arouse 
the community, and revive the church. 



36 GETTING ready FOR THE MEETING. 


Now then, having decided to hold 
a meeting and selected an evangelist, 
we find ourselves coming to solve one 
of the most difficult and yet important 
of all the problems of Christian work 
Getting ready—to wit I that of getting ready for the 
meeting. 

Variety of tai- Difficult because, first, of the vari- 
ety of talent, intelligence, and convic- 
tions of the workers. Some have great 
zeal and little knowledge; while others 
have great talent, but no zeal. Some 
are over-zealous, while others seem to 
have no part or lot in the matter. 
Some are so cool and deliberate in 
what they do that they rather repel 
instead of draw those with whom 
they labor; while others will not do or 
say anything unless they are so near 
crazy with excitement that they have 
neither prudence nor self-control. 

Difficult, second, because of the na- 
Materiai. ture of the material with which we 
have to work, and the thousand and one 
different ways in which men can be 
reached. However, it must be borne 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 37 


in mind that often what will move one 
man will disgust another; therefore no 
general rule as to details of work can 
or ought to be given. Every earnest 
worker will find that his own field of 
operation and his own fitness under the 
guidance of the Holy Spirit must de¬ 
termine his mode of operations. This 
applies with equal force to work before 
or in the meeting. There are, however, 
some suggestions as to getting ready suggestions, 
for a meeting which seem to us of 
such practical importance that we 
could not leave them out without 
doing violence to the cause we are try¬ 
ing to advocate. 

As the material or temporal phase 
of the work, while important, is less 
so than the spiritual, we therefore call 
attention to the human side first. May Human side, 
we introduce it thus, wuth a big D ? 

Don’t mind about the new dress. 

The adornment of the soul is more Adornment, 
needful for revival work than the body. 

Don’t plan to go off on a visit just visiting, 
as the meetings begin, nor leave home 



38 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


while they are in progress. If you 
ever intend to be any account as a 
Christian, then is the time. It would 
A poor soldier, “be R pooF soldier who would be on duty 
and answer roll-call every day except 
^ the day of battle. You need the meet¬ 
ing; the church needs you. Postpone 
or cancel your engagement. 

Entertain Dou’t Stay at hoiue to entertain com- 

company, p^ny, but kiudly invite them to church 
with you. If they will not go, give 
them to understand that you are en¬ 
gaged in a great work and however 
much you would enjoy their company^ 
duty to your God is paramount to 
everything else. 

Don’t make the meeting a time to 
^°^fish for lovers, nor neglect any duty on 
V account of your escort. The young 
lady who has to play truant with her 
God to win a man, gets one at great 
cost. 

^ Don’t think it your duty to fill up 
sixteeninches.sixteen iuches of a bench; a dummy 
would do the same. But take an active 
part; throw your soul into the work; 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 39 


sing, pray, speak to someone. Let it 
be said of you as of Mary, “She hath 
done what she could. 

Don^t keep the house-girl at home The house-gin. 
because she is hired. Her soul is as 
valuable to her as yours is to you. Be¬ 
sides, if you can get her converted, she 
will make you a better domestic, un¬ 
less religion is a cheat. 

Don’t keep the store or the office ®^store“^ 
open during the hours of service in 
your church. Close up and let the 
clerks come. They will not steal your 
money afterwards and your customers 
will have more confidence in them. 
Remember that money made at the ex¬ 
pense of souls is the price of blood, and 
ought to burn any good man’s pockets. 

Don’t keep your children from 
meetings to study their books during 
the revival. If their souls are not more 
important than their minds, then the 
gospel is not what it claims to be, and 
your profession is a fraud. Besides, 
you have all the scholastic year to send 
them to school. 



40 GETTING ready FOR THE MEETING. 


Indifference. 

On time. 

\/ 


1 / 

Help t h 
preacher. 


At the top. 


Don^t appear indifferent, as it dis¬ 
tresses the preacher and has a bad ef¬ 
fect on sinners who are watching your 
every expression. 

Don’t be late. The industrious 
farmer don’t wait for the light, and 
tardy pupils seldom stand well or do 
much in school. Some church mem¬ 
bers come to church like a Texas steer 
with a lasso around his neck; then 
leave like the house was on fire. If 
you want to ruin your meeting, go 
thou and do likewise. 

Don’t stay at home and wait for 
someone else to work up an interest 
before you come. If all the members 
were to do that way, who would the 
preacher have to help him, and when 
do you suppose the interest would 
start ? If you have a right to stay away, 
then every other member has the same 
right. Almost any horse will pull at the 
top of a hill, but they are not needed 
then. So it is more important to weep 
at the beginning of the work than to 
shout at the close. 



getting ready for the meeting. 41 


Don’t dictate to tlie leader nor find 
fault with, his plans. The time to do 
this is before you invite him. If you 
have been dressmaking for five years, 
how would you like it for some lady, 
who never even makes her tea-gown, 
to come in and tell you how to make a 
wedding robe? Or, if you were a doc¬ 
tor, how would you like for a lawyer to 
criticise your prescriptions? Give 
your leader credit for what he knows, 
and don’t think you can come from the 
farm, store, cook-room, or ofiice and be 
better posted on revival work than the 
man who has studied, planned, and led 
thousands before he ever heard of you. 
Remember it takes executive ability, Remember, 
brains, and heart to make a first-class ^necLsary” ® 
evangelist, but neither is essential to a 
fault-finder. 

Don’t act as if you weighed a ton weighed a ton. 
when the time comes to rise in your 
place. Whatever you do, do it cheer¬ 
fully. Carry out the commands of your 
leader without hesitating. Perhaps he 
is looking beyond this move to another, 



42 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


and while it may seem for the present 
useless and out of place, just as soon 
as you obey, then the next proposition 
will show its wisdom and develop the 
very best results. 

The Savior said to the apostolic 
college who were being instructed for 
future work, ‘‘What I do thou knowest 
not now; but thou shalt know here- 
after.’’ 

Don’t tell converts to wait and try 
^the churSi!^' themselves before they join the churchy 
unless you believe your opinions to be 
^comnfand. ^ ^ superior to the command of Christ. 

There are two essential reasons why 
persons should join the church. The 
first is a selfish one; to-wit, personal 
benefit. And who needs the affection¬ 
ate embrace of a loving mother more 
than the new-born infant. But these 
.oiomons. Solomous of the nineteenth century 
would lay the infant out-doors to starve 
and put the grown man to nursing. 

Two reasons. Again I tlie socond reason is a benev¬ 
olent one, by which the person is ena¬ 
bled to cast in his mite of influence, 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 43 


talent, and effort to do good to others. 

Surely this is the aim of all those 
who have been brought from darkness 
to light. Then why not begin at once, Begin at once 
while the visions of the Cross are still 
fresh and the voice of pardon is still 
ringing through the chambers of the chambers of 
soul. 

“Then will I tell to sinners ’round 
What a dear Savior I have found. 

I’ll point to Thy redeeming blood 
And say, ‘Behold the way of God!’ ” 

Oh 1 the power there is in the influence 
and counsel of the soul, fresh from 
the spiritual fountain, washed in the 
blood of the Lamb, saying, as he goes 
in the way of obedience, not to be a 
child, but because he is a child, “Come 
and go with ns; we will do yon good.” 

Some time since, we were in a meet¬ 
ing in the State of Missouri. A judge, a judge, 
his wife, son, and daughter were all 
converted. On Saturday after morning 
services, some twelve hundred people 
went with ns a few hundred yards to a 
beautiful stream, where the water 
clear as crystal and the very trees 



44 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


seemed to be clapping tbeir hands and 
the beautiful landscape was alive with 
teams, carriages, buggies, horses, 
and wagons. How it carried us back 
to the time when the voice of the first 
Baptist preacher was heard amidst the 
crowds of anxious listeners on the banks 
of the historic Jordan! Here more 
than a score of souls, including the 
judge, his wife and daughter, were 
buried, in obedience to Christ, with 
him in baptism. On the way to the 
water I overheard the judge say to 
another middle-aged gentleman by the 
^°^thus!^ ^°same name, ^^Come and go with us. 

Let us all go together. You intend to 
be a Christian sometime, why not now?^^ 
Oh, how my soul went up in prayer to 
God that the judge might win his man! 
The baptism over, the crowd is dis- 
oneione man pcrscd; I scc onc lonc man standing off * 
to himself as if chained to the spot by 
a magic spell. I approached him. It 
was the judge’s man, with- his face 
bathed in tears and his lips moving in 
prayer. Advice and example under the 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 45 


influence of the Spirit had done its 
work; the man was converted and pub¬ 
licly confessed his Savior the same day. 

With these reflections we come to 
notice the spiritual side of the question 
how best to get our hearts ready for the 
meeting. O that the Spirit of God 
> would inspire us as we point to this, 
the most important question of time 
and one which will tell for eternity! 

If the great majority of regenerated 

souls are brought forth in the revival Brought forth. 

eflbrt, as we are sure is the case, then 

how important that effort. What need 

there is for thorough preparation. 

How like the psalmist we need to pray 
for the joys of salvation as preparatory 
to teaching transgressors the ways of 
the Lord. 

Here all around us are our loved 
ones, our friends, and our children dead 
in trespass and in sin. For a long 
time we have been awaiting the coming The Master 

^ ^ coming. 

of the Master. Now that He is near 
the city, who does not feel the import¬ 
ance of moving every stone? See Him^stone.^'"^'^^ 



46 getting ready for the meeting. 


as He weeps in sympathy while there 
is a stone in the way; but let it be 
moved, and sympathy tnrns to power, 
death to life, and sorrow to joy. 

Man’s extremity is God’s oppor¬ 
tunity. The mistake we often make is 
steadying the ark instead of moving 
obstructions from the way. Clear the 
way, and the ark will steady herself; 
and may God help us to do so. 

The first preparation of a spiritual 
character should begin in the pastor’s 
HoJ'tt study. Having once conceived the 
prepare. of a Special meeting, he should be¬ 

gin the preparation of each sermon 
with earnest secret prayer for that 
guidance and oversight of the Holy 
Spirit which is so essential in the selec¬ 
tion of the text and the preparation of 
the sermon. For several weeks his 
should every one point to the 
preach. should be in his 

words. He should insist on more con¬ 
secration among his people, and urge 
upon sinners the importance of repent¬ 
ance. His prayers and public utter- 



getting ready for the meeting. 47 


ances should all point to tlie coming 
meeting. He should redouble his dili-^Vhfsp^eopie* 
gence in visiting his flock. The family 
visited in every case should be prayed 
with, regardless of circumstances. 

When a pastor is ashamed or afraid to 
call his members to prayer in their 
homes, it is time for him to resign. Timetoresign. 
The burden of his conversation as he 
goes from house to house should be the 
meeting. In this way, the fire burning Fi^re^ on the 
on the altar of the pastor’s heart will 
catch among his people, and they, fall¬ 
ing into line, will hold up his hands 
and, with a hearty amen, second his 
every move. 

Again, every member of the church 
should be urged to pray at least once a 
day, say on going to bed, for the meet-Going to bed. 
ing. To the unconverted the coming 
meeting should be urged, both in pub¬ 
lic and in private, both by pastor and 
laymen, as the one opportunity of his 
life to seek the Lord. In this way the 
fallow ground may be broken up and the 
hearts of the people made ready for the 



48 getting ready for the meeting. 


work. All difficulties and hard feel¬ 
ings among brethren should be settled 
and gotten out of the way. 

A mill-stone. If a mill-stone about the neck of 

one offender of God’s children and the 
sea is a suitable burying-place for him, 
what must be the condition in the sight 
of God of that one who allows his tem- 
^zion^^ of per or stubbornness to clog the wheels 
of Zion and, by defeating the purposes 
of the Spirit in the revival meeting, 
send souls, for whom Jesus died, hurl- 
Aias! alas! ing into uvast etemity, uusaved. Alas, 
alas, that such a man should have ever 
been born or that such a man should 
not have died in the day of his birth! 
But for the abounding mercy of God, we 
would lose all hope of such a one; but 
^ea^ln'iy ^ what will heaveu be to the man who 
remembers that on his own account 
others are lost? ^Xet us therefore be 
SiTiTthl i^ord® co-workers with the Lord, and fellow- 
helpers to the truth,’’ knowing as we 
^°jLyrost?'^<lo that love’s labor is never-lost, and 
that the end to be obtained is worth all 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 49 


the sacrifice of feeling, humiliation, or 
mortification we can possibly endure. 

Good and conscientious brethren 
will differ with ns in outlines of work, 
but, after all, they are striving for the 
same end. Let ns bear with them in 
patience, give them credit for being 
honest, but at the same time give them 
to understand we have no time for de¬ 
bating plans when the time for action 
comes. 

One preacher told me to my face he 
had no use for evangelists, and had 
made it a point to oppose every one 
from Elder Knapp down. I learned 
from good authority that the same 
brotherwasinthehabitof gettingdrunk^ drunken op- 
every court, and had on several occa¬ 
sions, been helped in and out of his 
buggy in a high state of intoxication. 

Another good brother, who had 
tried his best for three weeks to have a 
revival and closed it an utter failure, 
found it necessary to preach an hour 
and thirty minutes against revivals. 

O consistency, thou art a jewel! ^ jew^i?^ 



50 GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 


But to the subject. While I would 
lay great stress on public and secret 
^chu?ch^ prayer,we would suggest that the ladies 

of the church will, for several weeks, 
meet daily from house to house, talk 
about the work, and present the names 
of those in whom they are especially 
interested. Have a list, give a copy to 
Rea^”lu?*^the member of this prayer circle, read 
uames. naiues, and together pray for 

each one separately. We have known 
this done with great satisfaction to the 
members of the circle and immediately 
followed by one of the greatest revivals 
it has ever been our privilege to wit¬ 
ness. We venture our judgment that 
no set of Christian ladies will ever try 
this plan in vain. 

Again, here is a fine field for the 
f f ? ^ People’s Union. Get your young 
People’s look Up uiid take in associate 

members for weeks before the meeting 
begins. Have them each to take a list 
of names and make them special ob¬ 
jects of prayer both in the Union and 
in their homes. In this way the young 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 51 


Christians of the church will be enlisted 
in the work and have something prac-« 
tical they can do. 

These associate members, as a rule, 
will be among the first fruits of the 
revival meeting. We have known it 
so in the past. 

Again, there is the Sunday-school.’' 
Oh, what a power for good, if wisel}' 
managed, and how it will tell on the 
results of the meeting! 

Each teacher should be labored with 
in private by the pastor and superin¬ 
tendent so as to be thoroughly enlisted 
in the work. This having been done, 
let the superintendent suggest to each 
teacher, in a private way, that the 
classes of all those believed to be of 
accountable age be spoken to by the 
teacher, and that the teachers get a list 
of all the members of their respective 
classes and visit them at their homes, 
and in every way prevail on them to 
attend the meeting, and if opportunity 
presents itself, have them on such occa¬ 
sions kneel with you in prayer. In this 


omething 

practical. 


t’ork for the 
Sunday- 
school. 




52 getting ready for the meeting. 


Gathering" 

terial. 


Invite y o 
friends. . 
sist the 1 
fortunate. 


A siler. t 
strong 
peal. 


'"®'way mucli material will be prepared 
for the meeting; many Christian hearts 
will be burdened for souls; and many 
loving hearts will rise to call you 
blessed; and your name will find a 
warm response in many hearts after 
your work is done and you Have gone 
to your reward. 

We would farther suggest that a 
very efhcient and in many cases suc¬ 
cessful way of w’ork in preparing the 
way is to invite your friends to come and 
^”'stay with you and attend the meeting. 

A little assistance by way of con¬ 
veyance rendered to the feeble or the 
poor often tells with fine effect. 

Again, when your soul is stirred 
and your heart goes out after some one, 
get down on your knees and pray for 
suck a one. Then get up and, trust¬ 
ing in the Spirit of God to direct you, 
put your thoughts on paper and direct 
it to the individual. He will read it 
all alone and no doubt will drop a tear 
;«t oii the silent page which has spoken so 
lovingly to his soul. 



GETTING READY FOR THE MEETING. 53 


These all tell with fine effect on the 
meeting, and bring a revenue of un¬ 
questionable benefits to the self-sacri¬ 
ficing worker. Four men brought one 
to Christ, but when he got there he had 
the four with him. So in working to 
bring others to Christ we will be there 
ourselves, and oh, what a place to be! to^^eI* 

See that mighty ocean as she rolls 
to far distant shores, bearing on her 
bosom the commerce of nations; look 
up on that giant of the everlasting hills 
as he stands on his granite foundation 
and lifts his snow-capped plumage be¬ 
yond the thunder’s home; and remem¬ 
ber that one is a union of drops and the nuie 
other a union of grains. 

So that revival wave, before whose 
tidal sweep the kingdom of darkness 
trembles and Satan flies, is but the 
weakness of human effort flying with Flying with 

• wings. 

wings of divine power, crying. The 
sword of the Lord and of Gideon!” 

^‘When thou hearest the sound of a 
going in the tops of the mulberry-trees, 
then thou shalt bestir thyself.” Sup- 



54 getting ready for the meeting. 


Final CO 
maud. 


posing these instructions have been car¬ 
ried out to the letter and in the spirit 
those whose eyes have scanned these 
lines, we know of no better way to leave 
the drill for the active campaign than by 
"-giving the final command in the fol¬ 
lowing order: 

“ Move forward, valiant men and strong, 

Ye who have prayed and labored long; 

The time has come for you to rise, 

For now the sun rolls up the skies. 

“Move forward, each and every one; 

The golden harvest has begun. 

Ye reapers, come from glen and glade 
And wield the sickle’s glittering blade. 

“Move forward, reaping as ye move; 

Angels are watching from above. 

Around are witnesses a host— 

Arouse ye now and save the lost. 

“ Move forward, move forward all along the 
line; 

Move forward, move forward—the light be¬ 
gins to shine.” 



CHAPTER III. 


IN THE meeting. 


TJAVING discussed at some length 
^ the church before the meeting, it 
is now our privilege to take our auditors 
with us to what seems to us an ideal 
meeting. [This is a picture or descrip¬ 
tion of a meeting actually held in the 
city of Peoria, Ill., just as seen by a 

committee sent from the First Church The commit¬ 
tee arrives. 

to the Bethel Memorial Church, on 
whose report and recommendations we 
were invited to the said church.] The 
first thing which attracts our attention 
is the crowd. Oh 1 what a crowd. We to get the 

crowd. 

see the pastor coming; he walks like he 

was doing business for the King. He 

looks cheerful, shakes hands—in fact, 

has arrived some fifteen minutes before Fifteen min¬ 
utes before 

time in order to welcome strangers, 
see after the ventilation and tempera- 

65 




56 


IN THK MEETING. 


A talk with 
pastor. 


Clearing t 
way. 


ture of the house, see that the ushers 
are in place, that the sexton has a 
pitcher of water for the speaker or to 
use in case someone should faint, as is 
often the case in great crowds; also 
to look up those who sing well and get 
them on the choir-stand, which is very 
essential in a great meeting. The 
ordinary church choirs are not suffi¬ 
ciently large, and in many cases cannot 
he depended on. 

le So we venture to ask the busy man 
a few questions. First question: ^‘How 
did you get such a crowdAnswer: 
“Oh, well,” he says with a smile, “we 
have been looking forward to this for 
some time. I have had prayer-meeting 
every evening for some time. Have 
visited and prayed with every family 
connected with my church and several 
outside. Have urged the people to get 

eever 3 ^thing in the way of entertain¬ 
ments, literary circles, festivals, and 
everything of a social nature, out of 
the way. Have urged them to come to 
the meetings in the very start. This 



IN THK MEETING. 


57 


is desirable for several reasons: first, it Reasons, 
gives tlie meeting a good healthy start, 
it attracts the unconverted, it encour¬ 
ages the evangelist vrho comes a stran¬ 
ger, it facilitates work, shortens the 
stay of the evangelist, and is less expen¬ 
sive. Besides, we have a woman’s pray¬ 
ing circle, our Young People’s Union, 
and Sunday-school teachers all enlisted 
and at work. Besides, we have given 
notice for the last two weeks in our 
daily papers of the coming of our evan- The press, 
gelist. This, together with the use of 
a thousand tasty invitation cards, has 
not only kept the people informed of 
our movements, but has created a desire 
on the part of many to hear the evan- 
gelist. 

“Then, you see,we have a room where 
the praying forces of the church meet 
and pray for half an hour before ser¬ 
vices begin in the main room. By the 
way, it is time now to begin that meet¬ 
ing; let us go in.” 

Here we see the leader of the meet-^he prepara¬ 
tory meet¬ 
ings. He is a plain man with easy 



58 


IN THE MEETING. 


manners, looks a little foppish at first, 
well dressed, has a bright eye and a 
determined look. His appearance is 
that of a man who has something to 
do and means business, on time to the 
minute. The room is full and the 
'*'iea^ds meeting starts. The pastor leads and 
the evangelist throws his soul into the 
work, the brethren and sisters lead in 
earnest prayer, several testify for Christ, 
some of them have brought a loved one 
and request for such special prayer, 
which was offered with great earnest¬ 
ness, and just as we were closing the 
meeting to go in the audience-room, 
where the great crowd had gathered 
and the singer had been leading in 
song for some time, two young ladies 
from the Sunday-school were converted. 
When I saw this and heard the pastor’s 
explanation, I was not surprised that 
the whole community was awakened. 
A talk with We took occasion to ask the pastor if 

the pastor. a 

his evangelist said much about repent¬ 
ance. “No,” said he, “but he has 
preached sermon after sermon to pro- 




IN THE MEETING. 


59 


duce repentance. He believes in the 
law as a school-master to drive men to 
Christ; with him hell is a reality, and 
he does not hesitate to say so. He 
thunders with the law from Sinai, and 
leads the penitent to Calvary; don’t say 
much about his or anybody’s mother, 
wife, or children, but tells with wonder¬ 
ful effect the story of the Cross, and 
holds up Jesus as the only hope of the 
lost soul.” 

Well, as it is time for the regular 
service, we find ourselves in the main m the audito- 
room and get seats with difficulty. 

But it reminded me of pouring hot 
water from a kettle into a tub of cold 
water to see these warm-hearted Chris¬ 
tians come out of that little meeting 
into this large and promiscuous audi¬ 
ence. But the effect was magical. I 
could see in a moment that it instilled 
life and animation into the meeting, 
and while in the case of the water the 
cold affected the warm, in this case I 
soon saw that the warmth of spirit as 
expressed in prayer, testimony, and 



60 


IN’ th:^ meeting. 


song affected the cold, and soon the en¬ 
tire audience seemed to be in hearty 
sympathy with the meeting, except a 
Giddy girls, few giddy girls, who seemed bent on 
disturbance. As I learned afterward, 
they had been turned out of the choir 
or had fallen out with the pastor, ex¬ 
cept one, who I learned was a member of 
another church in town, and while she 
was generally supposed to be a Christian 
at her own church, she naturally wanted 
to marry so badly she did like a heathen 
everywhere else. But as none of these 
were regarded as being well raised, re¬ 
fined, or bright, no one who knew them 
seemed to notice them, and in a little 
A story. while the speaker told a little story in 
regard to two politicians, an old woman, 
and a calf, which just seemed to catch 
them exactly and answered the place 
of reproof. True, it seemed a little 
irreverent, and one of the deacons, who 
dea-is a Httlc on the critical order, did not 
smile at all, but the crowd fairly roared. 
However, it was not long after this be¬ 
fore many were in tears, and I soon saw 



IN THE MEETING. 


61 


that if a man could make a crowd laug:b smiling and 
he could make them cry. But tliese 
bad girls have caused us to wander 
away somewhat from our subject. So, 
beginning again where we entered the® 
service proper, our attention is called 
to the large choir, which has the hearty 
support of the congregation. Between 
every verse the leader will have some^^”^candtes- 
one to testify for Christ, sometimes 
calling for three between a verse, some¬ 
times calling for those under twenty 
years, then for those over sixty, some¬ 
times for those w^ho had followed the 
Lord forty years, then for young con¬ 
verts. At the close of the song and 
testimony he had the audience to stand 
for a concert of praver. Each one lead-praying m 

-*■ '' concert. 

ing to volunteer and pray for some spe¬ 
cific thing. I noticed that the evangelist 
spoke short and pointed and that the 
members of the church carried out his 
instructions promptly and there was no 
hesitancy or waiting as if driven by 
fear, but everybody seemed to be in love 
with everybody else and all seemed 



62 


IN th:b meeting. 


willing and ready to do anything re¬ 
quired of them; not machinery, but 
work—not cast-iron methods, but spir- 
Eiberty. itual liberty, seemed to be the rule of 
action throughout the entire service. 
After the concert of prayer, the text is 
Text. announced. Text: Mark 8 : 36 and 37 
the verses. Theme, the soul. First, Its 
worth, how determined. Second, Its 
peril, how caused. Third, Its salva¬ 
tion, how secured. In this sermon 
men were first made to feel that they 
were worth Saving, while the many 
sources of danger were pointed out, 
and last, but not least, Christ crucified 
HopCiOf the was lifted up as the only hope of the 
lost soul. One thing I did not just 
like was the invitation given at the 
close of the sermon, for the evangelist 
didn’t even put a mourner’s bench be¬ 
fore the sinner, nor even allow anyone 
to speak to the anxious, but had them 
bow in silent prayer while the singer 
What will you san^ lu u subdued tone, “What Will 
sus? You Do with Jesus?” At the close of the 
song I expected there would be an excit- 



IN THE MEETING. 


m 


ing time, but to my surprise the leader 
simply took his watch in hand and 
said: “ Now we have plead with you in 
the sermon, and with God in the prayer 
for many of you. The midnight hours Midnight pe- 

1 1 . . , - litions. 

have borne petitions to heaven while 
you were asleep. A mother or perhaps 
a wife has plead with God hour after 
hour. We once heard a wife say for 
years she had plead with God in the 
silent hours of night to give her a 
Christian husband. Such prayers are 
not in vain. Have you not felt the 
Holy Spirit knocking at the door of 
your heart, and do you not feel to-day 
that you are lost without hope and 
without God. Some of you have been 
thinking for quite a while, have pre¬ 
sented yourselves for prayer, and deep 
down in your own heart you have said, 

^God be merciful to me a sinner.^ Oh, 
my brother, this is a lifetime business, Aiifetime bus¬ 
going into partnership with God. Have Christ a part- 
you the will? He has the power. Then 
will you trust the Savior? Can you 
honestly say from the very depth of 



64 


IN THE MEETING. 


I yield. I yield, your licart, yield, I yield; I can hold 
out no more’? Do you feel yourself a 
sinner? Then remember Christ died 
for sinners just such as you are. Then 
will you trust Him. How many can 
come forward and declare your faith in 
Him and your determination to live a 
Christian life from this day henceforth 
and forever? May God help you. Let 
Christians bow in silent prayer. The 
time is passing; how many can walk 
deliberately forward and say from the 
heart, T am for Christ; I can, I do, I 
Casting all on now belicvc, and, believing, I cast my¬ 
self on Him7’^ 

The effect was wonderful: silence 
reigned, broken only by groans and 
sobs of suppressed feeling, with here and 
there the breathing of a silent prayer. 
The time seemed long, the silence awful, 
^ssue^ of eter- the Very issues of eternity seemed to 
hang on that moment; one felt to say, 
God present. “Suroly God is in this place.The 
Silence brok- silence is only broken by the coming 
forward of one after another from dif¬ 
ferent parts of the house. The evan- 



IN THE MEETING. 


65 


gelist took each one by the hand and 
said: ‘^Do you trust in Christ as your 
personal Savior? Is it your purpose 
to spend your life in His service?’^ and 
such other questions as the nature of the 
case seemed to demand. In every case 
I noticed he seemed to guard against on guard, 
persons being unduly excited, overper¬ 
suaded or deceived. Sometimes he 
would say, ‘‘Now, there are some per¬ 
sons here who came forward under the 
invitation at the close of sermon last 
night; now you have had time to think 
and pray over it, do you think you have 
been converted, and do you still trust 
the Savior? If so, come forward or rise 
in your seat, any way so you let us know. 

We don’t want you deceived, but we do 

want you to be a sure-enough Bible a Bible christ- 

Christian.” 

I am told that persons converted in 
meetings conducted on this plan are 
seldom, if ever, known to go back on 
their profession. I know of one case 
where sixty-eight united with the 
church by experience and baptism, dur- 



66 


IN THK MEETING. 


ing the meeting which was conducted 
by this man and on this plan, and eight 
i more united after the meeting closed, 

or the evangelist was gone—for the 
meeting didnh stop, so far as interest is 
Two^ years af- concerned, for two years afterwards. 

The pastor said the whole seventy-six 
were holding out faithfully, and as 
nearly all of them belonged to his 
Young People’s Union, he had the best 
union in his association. 

But this has led us from our report 
of the meeting; so, going back to where 
we left off, at the close of the invita¬ 
tion a request was made for all Chris¬ 
tians who were willing to sing, pray, or 
talk to the unconverted to remain for 
specjai meet-the special meeting. All unconverted 
persons who were willing to be spoken 
to and prayed for were invited to attend 
the special meeting. I observed right 
here that a few of the best workers 
s h^a^k i n g were going through the crowd shaking 
hands and in a quiet way trying to get 
the unconverted to remain—at least 
those believed to be interested. The 



IN the: meeting. 


67 


choir is singing a good lively song, 
while the crowd is dispersing, which 
soon disappears, leaving behind those 
greatly concerned, for the special meet¬ 
ing. The doors being closed, the choir 
comes dov/n on the seats in front of 
the stand. The leader will call the 
audience to prayer, insisting that every¬ 
one get on his knees before God and 
pray especially for the Holy Spirit. 
Sometimes three or four will lead in 
short but earnest prayers, the one after voi u nteer 

^ prayer. 

the other. Prayer over, the leader said: 

^‘Of course you have staid for instruc¬ 
tion ; now, I want to find out who staid 
for this purpose. So let the Christians 
rise and sing a song.’^ The song be¬ 
gins ; there are several on their seats. 

The leader calls for volunteers and in a 
short time has one Christian worker 
(most of whom had their Bible in hand) 
talking with each one. I should have 
said that I learned from the pastor that 
before these after-meetings began, the 
leader had the church to meet him in 
the lecture-room, where he gave special i.ecture-room. 



68 


IN THE meeting. 


Care. 


Approach i n 
the sinner. 


In the field. 


Three wit¬ 
nesses. 

Instructions. 


instructions as to this feature of the 
work. In these instructions the Chris¬ 
tian worker is urged, first, to be very 
prayerful; secondly, to carefully select^ 
such passages of Scripture as will en¬ 
courage the sinner to pray, as will help 
him to believe, as will encourage him 
to trust the Savior; also, the import¬ 
ance of confession, as the first act of 
obedience. Care should be exercised 
not only in the selection, but not to 
have too many, as they will tend to 
confuse him; three verses on any sub¬ 
ject, if well selected, are enough. In 
approaching the sinner always be mild^ 
gentlemanly, polite, and Christ-like, 
Never discuss any doctrinal issues witk 
him. This is needful for Christians, 
but bad food for the blinded but awak¬ 
ened sinner, who needs Christ, or, in 
other words, to become a new creature. 
Talk to him first about his condition; 
show him he is a sinner; summon to 
your assistance his experience, his hab¬ 
its, and his conscience. Get him to ad¬ 
mit the fact, then tell him of the Savior; 



IN THK MKETING. 


69 


show him that Christ came to save him, 
that if he will ask for pardon, God will 
give it, providing he is in earnest. 

Urge on him the importance of decis- Decision. 

ion of character, get him to decide; read 

to him the 13th verse of Romans 10, 

ask him to kneel with you in prayer, 

pray for him in an audible but soft 

voice, so as not to make a disturbance, 

that he may enter heartily with you in 

the prayer; when you are done, still on 

your knees by his side, tell him of the On your knees. 

publican, then repeat the prayer, ‘^God 

be merciful to me a sinner.Get him 

to pray that prayer; say to him, Do 

you mean what you say? are you in 

earnest?’^ Ask him if he believes God 

will keep His promise to save them that 

call on Him; urge upon him to take Believe ood. 

hold of this promise; then, rising from 

your knees, ask him if he can trust the 

Savior, and such other instructions as 

your own judgment and experience, 

under the lead and direction of the 

Holy Spirit, may suggest. Donh be Hoiy spirit 

mechanical, but in earnest; strive to win 



70 


IN "THK MEETING. 


his affections, convince his judgment, 
and secure his conversion. Remember, 
Reward. “He that winneth souls is wise, and they 
who turn many to righteousness shall 
shine as the stars.’^ Don’t go about 
this work like it was a task, but throw 
your soul into it, and, regarding it a 
privilege and an honor, do it with 
Move quickly, heart and soul as unto the Lord; move 
quickly; remember, the King’s busi¬ 
ness requires haste. With these sug¬ 
gestions as we learned were given by 
the evangelist, we now proceed to give 
you their practical results as we saw 
them carried out in this after-meeting. 

As there were several who remained, 
sometimes one Christian would talk to 
two or three, and some others, who 
Just the thing, didn’t think it was just the thing for 
them to talk to certain ones, would go 
and get someone else to do it. Oc¬ 
casionally the pastor was asked by 
someone to come and go with him 
and speak to a friend. During this 
time the choir is singing softly, some 
are talking, others are praying; still, 



IN THE MEETING. 


71 


wit4i the music to drown the noise, 
there is no confusion, and everything 
is in decency and in order. At the 
expiration of some ten or fifteen min-i^anding the 
utes, the leader, Bible in hand, will 
read several passages of Scripture, will 
explain the plan of salvation as taught 
in the Scripture read, and will enforce 
their meaning by one or more apt illus¬ 
trations; sometimes will call one or two 
Christians of undoubted reputation in 
the community to relate their religious 
experience, or, in other words, tell how 
they became Christians; will then call 
entire meeting to prayer, which he will 
lead himself. Some such song as‘‘Be¬ 
lieve in His Mercy,’^ “Only Trust 
Him,’^ or “Just as I Am,” will be sung 
by the congregation, all standing, with 
the request that all those who have 
given their hearts to the Savior during 
this after-meeting, or any other time, 
and have not publicly confessed Him , Confession, 
will come forward and give their hand 
as evidence of their trust in the Savior. 

Several came forward, and after the re- • 



72 


IN THK meeting. 


Notices. 


Baptism. 


Drop dead. 


quest that all would pray at their bed¬ 
sides for the meeting that night, and a 
notice by the pastor that the doors of 
the church would be opened the next 
day and also at night, followed by the 
ordinance of baptism, we adjourned, 
and with a hearty handshaking we 
separated and went home feeling to 
say, ^‘It was good to be there.” I no¬ 
ticed several of the members came to 
the table on leaving, and getting sev¬ 
eral invitation cards, put them in their 
pockets for distribution. Next morn¬ 
ing I had occasion to send off a tele¬ 
gram, and as I started out of the office 
the operator said: ‘‘I am getting un¬ 
easy; I believe something is going to 
happen to me—that I am going to drop 
dead or something.” “What makes 
you think so?” I said. “Well, there 
have been three or four persons in here 
talking to me about being a Christian 
and uniting with the church in the 
last twenty-four hours.” “Have you 
been to the meetings?” said I. “No; 



IN THK MEETING. 


73 


but I am getting uneasy, and I want 
you to call again. 

Well, the time has come for the 
day meeting, and as we want to make a Day meeting, 
full report of the work, we find our¬ 
selves at the church. There are a 
dozen men and nearly a hundred ladies. 

After a prayer by the pastor and a 
few good lively songs, the evangelist 
announced as his text Rev. 5:12: 
^‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain,’^ 
etc., an outline of which we have 
embodied in our report of the meeting. 
Introduction. Persons of character, sermon, 
truth, honesty, and benevolence are 
counted worthy. Then, Christ is 
worthy of confidence. Secondly, He 
is worthy of our affections. Thirdly, 

Worthy of our means, and lastly, of our 
service, which must be, first, a willing 
service, and, secondly, an obedient ser¬ 
vice. At the close of the sermon, “Am 
I a Soldier of the Cross?” was sung and 
an invitation given to those who wished 
to unite with the church. Several 
ladies, one man, and a boy of sixteen 



74 


IN THK MEETING. 


Entering th 
vineyard. 


Feel kindly. 


Magical. 


summers came forward and were re- 
eceived in the usual way. The pastor 
having charge after they were received, 
he invited all Christians to come for¬ 
ward and give them the hand of Christ¬ 
ian fellowship, to .which the evangelist 
added after they had all come, ^‘Let those 
who are not Christians, but feel kindly 
towards religion and have interest 
enough to say, T endorse the step you 
have taken and would congratulate you 
on it,^ come forward and give these per¬ 
sons your hand. At the same time, if 
any of you would love to have us pray 
for you, give me your hand.^^ The ef¬ 
fect was magical: almost every uncon¬ 
verted person in the house came for¬ 
ward, a'ad more than half of them re¬ 
quested prayer, after which an earnest 
prayer was offered for them, the pastor 
leading. I suggested to the leader that 
if he had pressed this meeting a little 
farther, there would have been several 
conversions. He said, ‘Well, if they 
are really in earnest, they will be con¬ 
verted anyway; besides, we will nave this 


In earnest. 



IN THE MEETING. 


75 


interest as a stock on which to draw 
this evening. Let them have time to 
think, read, and pray. I feel sure they 
will come out on the Lord’s side in the 
next service,” and with this we parted. 

I noticed the evangelist went straight 
to his stopping-place and was never 
seen loafing in stores or parading the 
streets; always seemed to be in a hurry, 
and while he was polite to everyone, 
he carefully avoided that familiarity 
which so often breeds contempt. contempt. 

Well, as the meeting always starts 
on time to the minute, we were there 
on time, because the audience had met 
before the regular time and the meet¬ 
ing for prayer was adjourned for the 
baptizing, which occurred before the 
sermon. The pastor administered the 
ordinance to one man, a lawyer, and his a lawyer, 
wife; also to four young ladies, all of 
whom were dressed in white; followed 
by three young men, one a fine nrusi- 
cian. I learned that this evangelist 
has had fine success in reaching busi¬ 
ness men. That while his plans are 



76 


IN THK MEETING. 


Beyond reach 


Obed i e n c e 
preacher. 


Eagle’s nest. 


simple, they are so practical and free 
from excitement that he wins many 
who have before become disgusted and 
• seemed beyond reach. Any way, these 
were a nice-looking set of people, and 
the pastor called attention to the fact 
that it was beautiful to see such prom¬ 
ising young people set out early in life 
to serve the Master, and that he could 
not express his gratification at being 
enabled to bury his friend and wife 
with Christ in baptism. I learned 
that this same scene has been repeated 
three or four times during the meeting, 
" letting the obedience of those who are 
saved preach to the unsaved. As soon 
as the pastor went into the dressing- 
room, the evangelist had the audience 
rise and sing, after which he announced 
his text, Deuteronomy 32:11: ^^As an 
eagle stireth up her nest,” etc. From 
the habits of the eagle we learned, 
first, that God has in His overruling 
providence placed us in the best of all 
the countries, and permitted us to live 
in the most favored of all the ages. 



IN THE MEETING. 


77 


Again, that God stirs up a man’s soul 
and in many ways causes him to look 
for something better than the present 
home, which is stirred like the eagle’s stirred, 
nest. Also, that God shows ns by the 
example of His son, of the prophets, 
the apostles, and those by whom we 
are surrounded, just how to live Christ¬ 
ians like the mother eagle shows the 
young to fly. And lastly, that as the how to Ay. 
mother-bird helps her young to fly 
away and be free, so the Lord helps the 
struggling Christian to reach his home 
above the skies. The congregation assist- 
was largely in tears at the close, and 
many pledged theijiselves by standing 
to begin again and strive by the help 
of the Lord to be more faithful in the 
future. Sinners were greatly moved, 
and some of those interested in the 
day service were converted, or at least 
confessed the Savior and said ‘‘theyconfessed the 
were trusting Him.” The after-meet¬ 
ing was more largely attended than on 
last night, which the evangelist said 
was usually the case; that as the meet- 



78 


IN THE MEETING. 


Work deepen¬ 
ing. 


Over Sunday. 


A children’! 
meeting. 


Forty s u m- 
niers. 


Sunday-school 
superintend¬ 
ent and “our 
evangelist.’’ 


■ ing progressed the work would deepen, 
and hence more would stay for the after- 
meeting. 

Well, we concluded to stay over 
Sunday, as we were anxious to give a 
full report of the meetings. We learned 
from the Sunday-school superintend¬ 
ent that there would be a children's 
meeting at 9 A. M., so we decided to 
attend. There was a large crowd, but 
many of the children had seen at least 
forty summers. The superintendent 
opened the Sunday-school in regular 
order, and then said: “We have with us 
^our evangelist,’ who has been an¬ 
nounced to address the children. We 
are therefore glad to welcome him, and 
as we have been looking forward to 
this meeting as the time to harvest the 
fruits of our labors, and especially to 
this service, I hope that he will not 
only have your attention, but that the 
Holy Spirit will open your hearts to 
receive the word, and that we may real¬ 
ize the answer to our prayers in seeing 
many of these whom we have taught, 



IN THK MEETING. 


79 


wept over, and labored with brought to 
the Savior in the morning of life.” 

I said to myself, as the speaker took 
his seat, “O for more such superin-^s°p|ri„Rnd- 
tendents! then young people would 
learn more about Calvary and less 
about the mountains of Samaria; would 
have less geography and more Christ 
in their Sunday-school lessons.” The 
evangelist stepped to the front and said, 

‘^Bo 3 ^s, I like you, and the girls all The address, s 
admire my judgment.” This little in¬ 
troduction, with a story or two, caught 
the attention of all, even the little tots 
from the infant class. Then he told 
them they were sinners and in a sim¬ 
ple child-like way enforced this truth 
on their minds. Then he stopped and 
said: ^‘Now, I will ask all of you in front 
of me who feel in your hearts that you 
are sinners to hold up your hands.” Be Hold up your 

• 1 -I 1 1 1 1 hands. 

It remembered that the teachers, under 
the instruction of the superintendent, ^o?chhdreu 
had all the pupils believed by them too to age, etc.^ 
young, or not sufficiently intelligent to 
be morally responsible, seated on the 



80 


IN Tnit MEETING. 


right and left wings of the room, teach¬ 
ers sitting with them, while grown peo¬ 
ple and children who were undoubtedly 
responsible were seated in the middle 
tier of seats or center of the room; in 
me/To’this way all were permitted to hear, 
but propositions and appeals were only 
made to the older and more intelligent. 
In this way children are prevented the 
oft-repeated habit of accepting every 
invitation, without knowing what they 
are doing, to the regret of their par¬ 
ents and mortification of their teachers. 
One could not fail to see the wisdom of 
this, and, as we said, the speaker, after 
having the larger ones hold up their 
Behold the hands, proceeded then to point out the 

promises. , 

Special promises made to the young, 
showed them the advantages of starting 
right then, lifted up Christ as the only 
Savior, and then asked those who would 
trust Him to come forward. Several 
They come, weut, aud, taking each one by the hand, 
he would ask them such questions as 
seemed necessary to satisfy him of 
. their thorough repentance and genuine 



IN TUB meeting. 


81 


conversion. Those not believed to be 
converted were asked to take a seat on 
the front bench, where they were 
spoken to by some member of the 
school and prayed for at the close of 
the invitation. After urging the young 
people to take an active part in the Take an active 
meetings, a lively song was sung,* dur¬ 
ing which a little girl was converted, 
and went to the superintendent and 
said: ‘T wish he had waited a little long- A little Ibnger. 
er; I wanted to tell him I love Jesus.” 

So the superintendent brought her to 
the evangelist and said: ‘^This little 
girl wants to tell you she loves the 
Savior.” The evangelist loves chil¬ 
dren and never seemed to be more at 
himself than when talking to them—in¬ 
deed, the pastor said it was his best 
effort. Promptly at eleven the bell Eleven sharp, 
tolled out the hour, and the choir, un¬ 
der the leader, started the song. The 
pastor conducted the preliminary exer¬ 
cises and made announcements for the 
week; also called attention to the spe- 



82 


IN the: meeting. 


cial meeting for ladies in the afternoon, 
and also for men at night. 

The evangelist then, came to the 
front and said: “This meeting means 
extra expense and I cannot consent to 
have this church burdened with debt 
when I am gone. Let us have a rous¬ 
ing •collection. While it was being 
taken he told a story on a bald-headed 
man who was great to pray but poor to 
pay, which so well illustrated the want 
of practical religion that all could see 
the point, and while a big collection 
was secured, the audience was wide 
awake and in a good condition to hear 
the sermon which followed. After a 
song had been sung, the audience "'tand- 
ing, the preacher announced as Ills 
text John 5:49: “Ye receive me not,^’ 
and discussed the following proposi¬ 
tions: Introduction. Two great facts 
make the reception of Christ necessary. 
First, all men as a rule acknowledge a 
Supreme Being; secondly, all seek or 
desire to be reconciled to Him; Cain 
comes with an offering of fruit; Abel 



IN THK MEETING. 


83 


with his lamb; Nebuchadnezzar with 
his image; Daniel with his prayers; 
the savage with his exciting dance; 
the Christian with his ceremonies; the 
Catholic with his beads, and the Prot¬ 
estant with his altar, each expecting in 
some way to secure the favor of his 
God. One ignoring all punishment, 
another afflicting his own body. In 
the midst of this confusion, the gospel 
of Christ cries, “Behold the Lamb of 
God!’^ The atonement tells of recon¬ 
ciliation, while the resurrection declares 
the victory over death, hell, and the 
grave. So in Christ we have justice 
met, peace secured, and life promised. 
But again, he should be received as a 
foundation on which to build our hopes 
for the future because: (a) hope must 
be founded on something; (d) a man’s 
strength is in proportion to what he 
builds on. In building the bridge 
across the great Father of Waters at 
Fort Madison, Iowa, they dug down one 
hundred and twenty-five feet below the 
water in order to find a safe foundation 



84 


IN the: meeting. 


on which to erect the pier for the cen- 
span. So let us dig down beneath 
the currents of free thought, the quick¬ 
sands of unbelief, through the sand-bars 
of prejudice, and found our hopes on 
Christ, the Rock of Ages. At the close 
of the sermon, which was about forty 
Wtatfoi*! '“’uiinutes long, an invitation of a double 
nature was extended. Those who had 
given their hearts to Christ, and now 
felt to go into the vineyard and work 
for Him, were invited to take the front 
seat. All who felt to give up their 
sins and take Christ as their Savior, 
but did not feel to unite with the 
church, were invited to come forward 
and publicly declare their acceptance 
of Christ. The evangelist questioned 
those who came just as he did in the 
young people’s meeting. Here the 
The church in pastor took charge and some half-dozen 
persons were received, one by letter 
and one restored. Those who had 
previously been baptized received the 
hand of church fellowship, the pas¬ 
tor taking each one by the hand, calling 



IN THB MEETING. 


85 


the name in a clear and distinct voice, 
presenting them to the church with 
appropriate remarks as each one was 
introduced. After the benediction, the 
choir sang a song and a general hand¬ 
shaking followed, the pastor having 
announced that in the near future a 
church sociable would he given in 
parlors of the church, followed with 
religious exercises, for the purpose of 
allowing the old and new members to 
become acquainted. 

At three in the afternoon the streets 3 p.m., women’s 
were fairly alive with ladies going to 
their special meeting. The house was 
comfortably filled, but as several men, 
who found it necessary to come with 
their wives or mothers from the coun¬ 
try, were out in the yard, they were 
allowed to fill up the little room left; 
so we went in with these gentlemen 
and heard a sermon on the marriage of s e r m o n oa 

• ct A P n choice. 

Rebekah, taken from Genesis 24 : 5-8: 

“Wilt thou go with this man? and she 
said, I will go.” It was a sermon on 
decision, as in the case of Rebekah— 



86 


IN THK MEETING. 


Eife and hap¬ 
piness. 


Stand up for 
Jesus. 


A word of tes¬ 
timony. 


P Tidying at 
home. 


one said go and another stay—she alone 
having the power to decide. So the 
sinner is between two influences: one 
from beneath, trying to work his de¬ 
struction; the other from above, trying 
to secure bis salvation; so God loves 
and Satan hates. But on the individ¬ 
ual’s choice depends his usefulness in 
this life and happiness in that which is 
to come. After singing the song, ‘‘I 
will, I will; God helping me, I will,”' 
during which those who had decided 
for Christ were asked to stand at their 
seats, then an invitation was given for 
those who felt so disposed to offer a 
word of testimony, after which the 
benediction was pronounced, after the 
request that every wife, mother, or 
daughter there who had an uncon¬ 
verted companion, son, or brother 
would spend the time of meeting in 
secret devotion during the evening. 

This was indeed a delightful meet¬ 
ing; many testified for Christ, both old 
and young. Several said they were 
more determined than ever before to 



IN the: meeting. 


87 


press onward; many with tearful eyes 
requested prayer for loved ones; in fact, 
one noticeable feature of the meeting 
was the fact that, as this was their own 
meeting, the sisters all seemed to beThe^j^sisters 
more free to take an active part. 

We will close our report of the 
meeting, as we left Monday, there being 
no day services, for the leader said he 
always gave Monday as a day of rest Day of rest, 
from church service, in order that the 
necessary affairs of home and business 
mightbe looked after. So we left Mon¬ 
day on the early train, after having 

written some notes on the men’s meet-^?“’» meet¬ 
ing. 

ing, told the pastor farewell, and ex¬ 
torted a promise from him to send us 
a paper containing an account of the®m|"fP^^‘ 
meeting at the close. 

So now we give our report of the 
men’s meeting on Sunday night. The Sunday night, 
crowd was there an hour ahead of time, 
so the pastor conducted services until 
the leader arrived. The house was full 
of men, except the ladies in the choir. 

I said to the evangelist, “I didn’t sup-^umilader!^ 



88 


IN THE) MKBTING. 


I^adies in the DOSC you would iiave any ladies in tlie 

choir. .... - . 

choir to-night, as you were going to 
preach to men.^^ “Oh, well,” said he, 
“I never say anything to a congrega¬ 
tion of men which I would not say to 
ladies. I doubt the propriety of point- 
Fountaina ofiug out the hauuts of vice or painting 

vice. ^ . . n T 

scenes of dissipation. Men are apt 
enough to find them without being 
Hold up the told. The best way is to hold up truth 
by the side of error and give men the 
light, and if they will have darkness, let 
them do their ownlooking for it. True, 
dan- nieu ought to be warned against dan- 
ger, but so ought women. My reason 
for dividing the crowd is to have room, 
and in this way preach to twice as many 
people in the same day.” At this time 
On time. the bell tapped and in a moment he 
was in the house. After a song was 
sung, the evangelist called for another 
and said: “Now for some hearty testi¬ 
mony for Christ before each verse.” 
Many testi- Many testimonies were given; some- 

monies. . ..... . . - 

times two would arise at a time. Af¬ 
ter prayer, a solo was sung and a collec- 



IN THK MEETING. 


80 


tion taken to defray traveling expenses. Expenses. 
Said tlie evangelist, ‘‘This is one of 
niy rules, and in this way we meet our 
actual expenses; a little from the many 
will lighten what otherwise would he a 
burden.’’ After another song, all stand¬ 
ing,—for said the preacher, “I want you 
all to stand, as that will be a rest, will wiii be a rest, 
drive away the feeling of drowsiness 
which so often conies . over one after 
sitting for awhile,”—the sexton was The sexton, 
ordered to give a little more ventilation, 
so all seemed cheerful and in a good 
humor to listen. The text announced ^ ext a n- 

nonnced. 

was Romans 14:8: “We are the Lord’s.” 
Introduction. The text says we be¬ 
long to God, but men say they belong 
to themselves; hence a controversy, a controversy. 
First, we come in possession of prop¬ 
erty by creation. The vox populi 
(voice of the people) guarantees toaman 
that which he makes. So if God has 
made us or is in anyway responsible for 
our creation, then by the same law we 
belong to Him. Again, we come in 
possession of property by right of pur- 



90 


IN THB MEETING. 


chase. If that for which we have paid 
our money is ours, how much more that 
for which He gave His life. Lastly, 
Relation to what relation do we sustain to Him? 

God. ^ ^ 

First, the relation of servants; secona, 
of friends; and third, of children. 

These points were well developed 
and enforced by illustration. Some¬ 
times there would be a disposition to 
laugh as some amusing incident was 
related by the speaker. I noticed these 
:e ff e c t s of stories had three effects: one was to get 
and hold attention; another was a rest 
to the listener between points, which 
left him in a good lively state of mind 
for the next proposition, besides giv¬ 
ing the speaker a little rest; but still 
another effect was that it seemed to 
make the sermons spicy, so the people 
were intent on hearing them every one. 

There was no after-meeting, but at 
the close the speaker said: “I want 
every man in the house, saint or sin- 
3^ot satisfied, nor, who is not satisfied with his life in 
the past and feels determined to live 
better in the future, to rise to his feet.^^ 




IN THI$ MEETING. 


91 


When the whole audience arose to its 
feet with this, the benediction was 
pronounced, and the day^s work for the 
Lord was over. 



CHAPTER IV. 


A TALK WITH THE EVAN^ 
GELIST. 


A fter the men’s meeting, I went 
home feeling to say,“Indeed, it was 
good to be there. ” All night long, in my 
In my dreams, dreams, I could hear the songs and 
see that great crowd of men saying by 
their actions, “ I will try again.” I 
Brighten the could but thinkhow many homes would 
be more cheerful and how many faces 
illuminated as the result of this men’s 
meeting. Even the beast of the field 
would be treated more kindly and all 
the machinery of life run more smoothly. 
Indeed, such seems to have been the 
meaning of the Prophet Isaiah when 
he said, “All the trees of the fields shall 
The moun-clap their hands, and the mountains 
and hills shall break before you into 


92 




A TALK WITH TH^ KVANGKLIST. 


93 


singing; for you shall go out with joy 
and be led forth with peace/^ 

Rising early, so as to have alittle Aiiuievisu. 
visit with the evangelist before my 
departure, I called early and was agree¬ 
ably disappointed to find him up by 
time and at breakfast. On being 
received, I told him I was sorry to call so 
soon, as I did not expect to find him up 
so early, and said: 

have seen some evangelists who 
did not get up until breakfast was over Breakfast over 
and what was left was either cold or 
burnt, and the landlady had to order 
another meal cooked for him. In fact, 

I have seen some evangelists who were 
so spoiled from kindness that they 
didn’t seem to think or care how much 
annoyance or expense they were. In 
fact, I have seen some good men engaged 
in other callings who reminded me of 
the self-important cock that believed The important 

, cock. 

the sun rose every morning to hear him 
crow. Such men exact more than their 
necessities demand and seem to think 
others only liv-e to satisfy their childish 



94 A TALK WITH Th:^ EVANGELIST. 


Childish de-demands. But, sir, I want to have a 
little talk with you in regard to the 
meeting before I leave for my home. 
Pardon me, but don’t 3^ou think, if you 
had given an opportunity, several 
would have come forward at the men’s 
meeting?” “Oh, well,” said he, “ I 
Truth sound- wanted to leave them with the truth 
sounding in their ears, and give them 
time to think. If you want to run a 
i<:xcitement. meeting on excitement, then whenever 
3^ou can get up an excitement you can 
have results; but if you appeal to men’s 
reason and convince their judgment. 
Takes time, it takes time. Remember the great 
Teacher said, ‘Count the cost.’ I am 
more anxious to have the character 
than thenumber. In fact, it isn’t oncein 
ten that I pretend to know how many 
How manyhave profcsscd conversion. I do not 

professed. -*• 

depend on the reporting of numbers, 
but on the character and stability of the 
work done under my direction. I try 
to strengthen the pastor, encourage the 
Young People’s Union, the Sunday- 
school, and leave everything in good 



A TALK WITH THK EVANGELIST. 


95 


order, not only for the pastor, hut for order, 
the next meeting. In this way I get 
the good will of the pastor through 
whose influence I get my work, and 
often hold two meetings two years in 
succession in the same place, and in one 
case six meetings six years in succes¬ 
sion. The first one was the poorest in 
results. This is my idea of evangelistic My idea, 
work, and it must be right, for in the 
nine States in which I have worked I 
have yet to hold my first meeting in 
which someone does not profess con¬ 
version.” “Do you have any fixed or 
specific rule as to compensation for compensation 
3^our work—if so, how do you work it? 

I want to make a full report to my fuh report. 

church and I regard this feature of the 

work as of special importance. Qp^portance. 

course you have a family, and as you 

are away from home most of the timej 

there are many ways in which others 

can economize, but you are at the 

mercy of the merchant, can have no ’^ 5 [e?chant!^^ 

garden, and such being the case, it will 

cost you more to live than the pastor; 



96 


A TALK WITH THE) EVANGE)LIST. 


besides, you have no parsonage, but 
Own home, bave to furnish your own house; then 
you don’t get time to wear out your 
clothes, but as soon as they become 
Give themunfit for thc pulpit, you have to give 
i,aid aside, thcm away or lay them aside and get 
more. Besides, you get no pay any 
longer than you vrork, even the time 
Clear loss. spcnt iu travcHng is a clear loss, and it 
is certain that the man who works as 
you do will have to rest a few months 
in every year or he will soon be laid 
aside. Now, recognizing these facts and 
believing as I do, that a preacher of 
all men should be honest, meet his 
obligations, pay his debts, andlive above 
Above re-reproach, I would like to know, first, 

proach. ^ ^ ' 

about how much in your case is neces¬ 
sary, and second, how you get about 
Collecting'. collecting it.” Well, sir; in the first 
place, I have no cast-iron plans. Breth¬ 
ren tell me they raise money for me, as 
Little trouble, a Tulc, with vcry little trouble. As a 
rule, if people believe a man honest and 
see that he is faithful, they will sup- 
support. him. Frequently brethren have 




A TAI^K WITH THEJ EVANGELIST. 


97 


said, ‘We raised you fifty dollars per 
week with very little effort.^ In one case ritee effort. 

I preached four weeks in a small town 
and the brethren raised among them¬ 
selves two hundred dollars; not a per¬ 
son outside of the church was asked for 
a cent. I heard afterwards that some 
of the members of other churches were 
hurt over it, and there was one man 
who said, ‘I wanted to give five dollars, wanted to 
bnt no one asked for anything.’ The 
brethren said, if they had known be¬ 
forehand they had to raise two hun¬ 
dred dollars in the entire town, they 
would have given it up on the start. 

In another place we simply announced 
at the end of the first week that fifty 
dollars per week was wanted to defray 
expenses of the meetings. Collections 
were taken Sunday morning and even¬ 
ing. The treasurer paid in fifty dol¬ 
lars every Monday for four weeks, and 
turned the overplus into the treasury overplus, 
of the church. At another place the 
pastor at the close of the first week 
called all the church members and 



98 A TAI,K WITH Th:^ evangktist. 


A matter 
business. 


Ability of t! 
church. 


“All rig-ht, 
said t h 
preacher. 


otliers interested in the meetings to 
meet him in the lecture-room or re¬ 
main after dismission, as there was a 
' ^matter of business claiming their atten¬ 
tion. * Now,^ said the pastor, after they 
were seated and the evangelist gone, 
‘ we have seen and heard him, and since 
this work has its business as well as 
its religious features, it is fitting that 
some definite arrangement be made for 
his support. Hearn from him that he 
usually gets fifty dollars per week, 
sometimes more and sometimes less, 
depending somewhat on the size and 
le ability of the church as well as the re¬ 
sults of the meeting; for instance,! heard 
that in one place he worked three weeks 
and only received one hundred and 
ten dollars. The weather was bad and 
lots of sickness, so the finance commit¬ 
tee said it was all that could be raised. 
” ^^All right,” said the preacher. At the 
next place two hundred and fifty dollars 
was raised for four weeks. At the next 
place one hundred and thirty-three dol¬ 
lars was raised for three weeks; so, on 



A TALK WITH THE) EVANGELIST. 


99 


an average, tlie evangelist received fifty 
dollars per week, less five dollars, for 
ten weeks. Now we don’t want to 
come up behind, so I propose now that 
everyone interested in the meetings 
will say how much you will give perperwe«k. 
week and put in a printed envelope 
which will be circulated for that pur¬ 
pose at the close of the meeting, or 
hand it to the finance committee which 
will be appointed for that purpose.’ 

This seemed to meet the approval of 
all and in a few minutes a little over 
fifty dollars per week was subscribed, 
and as there were over fifty who staid, 
it wasn’t an average of one dollar apiece. 

All were delighted with the plan, and 
gave cheerfully; so the pastor told me ‘^fuuy. 
next day. I saw at once this vras a 
superb plan, and I heartily commend 
it to you as one of the easiest and most 
successful ways to raise the expenses of 
extra meetings. Indeed, the pastor told 
me that when the envelopes were^opened^^^® 
opened at the close of the meeting, 
there was forty-five dollars more than 



100 A TALK WITH THK EVANGELIST. 


Overplus. was askcd for, with which he paid for 
putting in a baptistery in the church, 
and also some which was left he paid 
on the church debt, the evangelist 
saying he was satisfied with two hun¬ 
dred dollars for the four weeks’ work. 

“Another good plan, and one which 
will not only raise funds, but develop 
the working forces of the church, is to 
Apportion, apportiou the amount wanted,giving the 

Sunday-school a share, the Young Peo¬ 
ple’s Society a share, the Woman’s Aid 
Society a share, and leaving the church 
proper to bring up the rear. In this 
way all will feel interested, and each 
one having a definite amount to raise, 
the burden will fall light on all, 
and each one, from the least tot of the 
infant class to the oldest father in 
Interest in the will feel that he has an interest 

in the work. In one case the church 
would not consent to have me come 
unless I would before going fix an 
amount, as they wanted to pay me out 
Treasury, of funds in the church treasury. So I 
wrote them I would go for twenty-five 



A TAI,K WITH THK EVANGELIST. 101 


dollars per week, with the privilege of 
taking a collection at the close; and 
though the pastor said there was scarcely 
a family connected with his church 
in which there wasn’t some one down 
with la grip.pe, yet when the collec¬ 
tion was taken at the close of the meet¬ 
ing, it only lacked five dollars of mak¬ 
ing fift}^ dollars per week, and, strange 
to say, after I was on the train, an old An oid maid, 
maid handed me an envelope with five 
dollars enclosed. I find in church af¬ 
fairs it is always more a matter of will 
than ability. The willing are always 
able and the unwilling forever in dis¬ 
tress. For instance, a pastor, when he 
took my receipt for one hundred and 
forty-three dollars paid for three weeks’ 
work, said: had a brother here last 

year; he worked hard for three weeks, 
but somehow he failed to get hold of 
our people, and while we have raised 
you a hundred and forty dollars with 
very little effort, we had to move 
heaven and earth to raise him thirty, heaven and 
One mistake churches often make is in one mistake. 



102 A 'TALK WITH THK EVANGKLIST. 


proposing to pay a man in proportion 
to the success he has while with them. 
This is all wrong. The preacher is not 
responsible for the success or failure of 
the gospel he preaches. It is his to 
work and God’s to give success; besides 
circumstances over which he has no 
earthly control, and often of which he 
had no knowledge until on the field, ren¬ 
der anything like a general move or 
far-reaching revival out of the ques¬ 
tion; therefore he should not be over¬ 
warded. ’ praised and rewarded amidst success, 
■^edf^^’ abused and starved in the hour of 

comparative defeat. Paul’s visit to 
Athens is not regarded as a great suc¬ 
cess, and Jesus himself could not do 
many mighty works in Nazareth.” 

After this conversation we parted. 
One thing I like about this man is his 
Beat the bush, frankncss. He doesn’t beat around the 
bush, but goes right to the point; true, 
there are a good many people who be¬ 
come offended with the plain, unvar¬ 
nished way in which he puts things. 

I know of one case where a very culti- 



A TALK WITH THE EVANGELIST. 103 


vatedlady, a teacher in the high school cultured la :y. 
and a member of the- church, be¬ 

came so disgusted the first time she 
heard him that she left the church and 
declared she would never go there 
again. But all the same she was there 
the next night, and was baptized into 
the fellowship of that church by the 
evangelist in less than ten days. The 
church not having any pastor at that^pVs^oT’^ ^ 
time, the evangelist performed the 
functions of pastor and baptized thir- 
ty-eight, the teacher among the rest. 

He believes in his work and does it 
with a heartiness which cannot fail to 
win respect and under the blessing of 
God bring success. He believes also 
in the man who believes something. 

He holds that every man ought to work 
for the cause or against it; that it is 
either the grandest reality or the big¬ 
gest fraud on earth; that if a humbug 
and a cheat, then every good man owes 
it to society as well as himself to stamp 
it out; but if a lever let down from 
the skies to raise men to God, then all 




104 A TALK WITH THE EVAKGELIST. 


On the lever. should throw their weight on the lever 
and never stop until this old world 
shall be raised from the mudsills of sin, 
the enemies of the Cross made its 
friends, and Jesus Christ crowned King 
of the ages and Lord of the nations. 

Much more could be said in regard 
to the meetings, but as we will soon 
have the report from the press, and also 
a letter from the pastor telling how he 
managed after the meetings, we here- 
^miued.®“^“with submit our report, with the state¬ 
ment that should this report seem to 
any of a doubtful character or a ficti¬ 
tious nature, every item in it can be 
vouched for, so far as the incidents, 
plans, and general outline is concerned, 
all of which has actually taken place 
and was either seen by us or related by 
Eye-witnesses eye-witnesses, to whom reference will 
be gladly given; and may God abun¬ 
dantly bless the instructions herein 
contained. 



CHAPTER V. 


A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


pvEAR BROTHER: 

According to promise, I now en¬ 
deavor to write you a line, giving you 
a short report of the closing exercise 
of our meeting. It is needless to say 
the crowds kept pace with the inter¬ 
est and seats were at a premium to the^pr^mlum^ ^ 
very last. There were in all nearly a 
hundred additions to our church, and 
of course the other denominations will 
g.et some. Many of the business men Business men. 
of the city are among the number of 
the saved. As was announced while 
you were here, we had our religious so- 

sociable the next week after you left. 

It was a joy indeed and an occasion 
long to be remembered. At an early 
hour the crowd began to assemble in 

the church parlors, where a general in- 
105 



106 


A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


troduction and handshaking was in- 
^i?g?ViIgh- dulged in for quite a while, some talk- 
ing, others singing. The merry laugh of 
' bell”children chimed in like marriage-bells, 
while young and old seemed to feel per¬ 
fectly free, and in a little while one 
could easily see that the young mem¬ 
bers felt quite at home; strangers and 
those from outside onr own church 
Lost. were soon lost in the crowd, and all 

seemed to enter heartily into the spirit 
of the occasion. How true it is, as the 
poet said: ‘‘Religion never was de¬ 
signed to make our pleasure less.” 

I heard one man say he had tried 
Temperance, dissipatiou for teu years, temperance 
Religion. for two years, and religion for two days, 
and that he had found more real en¬ 
joyment in the two days as a Christian 
than in all his life before. I also heard 
a very distinguished lawyer say he had 
the world for forty-nine years, 
and had gotten all the fun out of it he 
could, but after trusting Christ and 
serving him for six, he had no hesita* 
tion in saying he had had a better time 


Six years. 



A I^ETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


107 


and more enjoyment in the six years 
spent in the church than in the forty-church, 
nine preceding years spent in the 
world; therefore he would commend 
the service of God to the young, not 
only as the safe and wise thing to do, 
but as the only sure road to happiness. 

Said he, “Boys, if you want to have fun, 
give your hearts to God and join the 
church.’^ If one could judge from ap¬ 
pearances at our church last night, the 
lawyer was not very far from the truth, "^ruth. 

After the meeting in the parlors, 
we went into the audience-room and^'^room.^”''^’ 
had some fine music, and after prayer. Fine music, 
one after another made nice talks, all 
of which breathed a Christ-like spirit 
and showed that these new members 
meant work and only needed to have it ^^^nt work, 
laid out for them. Fifty have already 
united with the Young People’s Union, 
and the operator at the telegraph office 
has been elected president of the union. 

One of the young ladies has been ap¬ 
pointed organist, and a brother, who^’^^^”'*^ 
came to us from the-church, was 




108 


A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


Class. 


B. Y. People. 


Best workers. 

Doctrines. 


Tracts. 


Papers. 


given a class in the Sunday-school, 
which is now the largest and by far the 
most interesting class in the school. 
We expect to send some of our new 
members to the B. Y. People’s conven¬ 
tion as delegates. I learned from the 
president of the Ladies’Aid Society that 
quite a number of the new lady mem¬ 
bers have joined the society and are 
among the best workers they have. I 
shall preach a few sermons on our dis¬ 
tinctive doctrines soon, with a view to 
more thoroughly indoctrinating these 
new members in the faith as well as 
practice. I have ordered several dol¬ 
lars’ worth of doctrinal tracts and such 
literature as I think suitable to the 
case. I have also secured several addi¬ 
tional subscribers to our State and de¬ 
nominational papers. I find that ac¬ 
tion is productive of strength and read¬ 
ing directs it in useful and laudable 
channels. Wherever I have been, I 
have invariably found that those who 
read our denominational literature are 
always in the front ranks, so I am ns- 


Front ranks. 



A I^ETTKR FROM THE P4STOR. 109 


ing my best endeavors to get these new 
members to read good, wholesome lit¬ 
erature. I need not tell you our Sun¬ 
day-school has nearly doubled since Doubled, 
the meeting. 

A special effort has been made to 
get all the new members in the Sunday- 
school, and most of them have joined. 

I should have told you I have received 
several more for baptism since the several more, 
meetings closed. At our prayer-meet¬ 
ing Wednesday evening we had the 
largest crowd we ever had in the his -■ Ever had. 
tory of the church. I called on some 
of the new members to talk, and they 
responded promptly. I also requested Promptly, 
some of them to lead in a concert of Dead, 
prayer, which was done in great earnest¬ 
ness. There have been several con- conversions, 
versions since the meeting, and I hope 
to keep, the interest in the congre¬ 
gation until the next meeting. You 
know some people move slow and some Move slow, 
old sinners have to have line upon line Old sinners, 
and precept upon precept. Besides, 
after all we can do, there are some good 



110 


A letter from the pastor. 


people who are converted, still they 
Long- time. will stay out of the church for a long 
time after they are converted, then 
join the church in some future meeting, 
Prejudiced. while some others are so prejudiced to 
what they call excitement that they 
won’t join the church until the meet¬ 
ing is over. I know a case of this 
kind where a man was converted in a 
meeting, but though his wife united 
staid out. and was baptised, yet he staid out un¬ 
til the next meeting of the church, and 
was received. Then there are several 
families, membersof our denomination, 
who have moved to town. I am look- 
Afterthem. ing after them, with a view to having 
them get their letters. Some of them 
have been taken under the watch-care 
of the church, with the promise of get¬ 
ting their letters; besides, I found 
several who had been here quite a 
while and had, as is usually the case, 
done nothing here, nor anywhere else, 
so I visited them, and at their request 
I have written and secured their letters, 
so we will have five additions by letter 


Watch-care. 


Visited them. 



A lktter from thk pastor. 


Ill 


at our next regular meeting. These 

persons are beginning to feel an inter- An interest. 

est in our church now, and are taking 

hold of the work. It is due to these 

young converts to say they were among 

the most liberal contributors to the con¬ 
tributors. 

expense of the meeting, and some of 
the business men brought in are now 
among the most liberal givers we have. 

It is a little strange to see the commit¬ 
tee on church repairs, pastor’s salary, 
etc., meeting now in the very drug Drug store, 
store which twelve months ago was the 
rendezvous of the worst drunkards in 
town, the druggist selling liquor in selling liquor, 
open defiance of the law, paying fine 
after fine, and continuing to commit 
the same offense. Several of these offense, 
drunkards are now members of the Drunkards, 
church, and there is a strong feeling’^ch’Jrchl^* 
among the members in favor of elect¬ 
ing the druggist as deacon. Here 
different committees meet and discuss 
methods and plans of work. 

It is astonishing to see the change 
which has come over our little city since i.ittie city. 



112 


A letter from the pastor. 


the meetings. One man, who had 
scuffle.^^^' knocked out his wife^s eye in a scuffle 
Drunk. with her while drunk, was converted, as 
was his wife. It was a scene not soon 
to be forgotten, to see this poor one- 
eyed woman and her formerly drunken 
companion, now a new and a sober, 
’"‘bail loving husband, going down into the 
Hand in hand, water hand in hand, to be buried to the 
old life of sin. Since then, as he is a 
working man, dependent on days’ work 
for a living, some man who had a lot 
crates of old beer-bottles tried to get 
this man to haul them, when he stoutly 
Lost his job. refused and lost his job rather than put 
his hand on a beer-bottle, saying he 
was done handling bottles. I met this 
brother on the street the other day 
‘^shaVd.” ^ ^with his hair neatly cut and cleanly 
shaved, with a neat-fitting new suit. 
German. German. As we met, he held 

my hand with his right and raising his 
left above his head said: “I thank God 
for the coming of that evangelist to 
this town, for it has not only helped me 
Dlbfl^id.’ to be a better man, but to pay my debts.’' 



A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


113 


Among others was the city marshal, city jnarshai. 
Before his conversion he stood in with 
the toughs, and when there was a Toughs, 
drunken row in one part of the city he 
was always drunk himself or in some 
other part of town. But now he is not 
only faithful as a marshal, but he isFaithiui. 
ever on the lookout for any violation Lookout, 
of the law. The last time I saw him 
he was having a barkeeper prosecuted 
for selling liquor to a minor. While to a minor, 
telling you of the wonderful revolution 
among the drinking class of our town, 

I must tell you I received a letter from 
another pastor where our evangelist 
has held meetings before coming to us, 
which I herewith enclose for your 
inspection: inspection. 

Reynolds, Feb. 25, 1892. 

Dear Brother, —I feel it due to 
the cause for which you and I are giv¬ 
ing our lives, to relate for your encour-our lives, 
agement a circumstance which occurred 
in our town and connected with our 
church. There was only one African African, 
in our town, an old man said, to be 



114 


A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


'‘Uncle Ben.’ 


Lived o 
whi.sk}'. 


Never go 
down. 


Came t 
church. 


For prayer. 


Our know 
edge. 


ninety-four years old. He was a bar" 
ber by trade, had run a shop here for 
many years. He was familiarly known 
’ as Uncle Ben. He has been a habitual 
drunkard for many years—in fact, he 
" lived by himself and almost on whisky. 
The wonder of the people has been that 
he had not died from drink years ago, 
but his long life as a drunkard is ac¬ 
counted for from the fact that while he 
drank constantly, he never had sprees, 
^ never got down, and as he lived in a 
room adjoining the shop, never exposed 
himself. Well, as the meeting pro¬ 
gressed, it became a matter of conver¬ 
sation in Uncle Ben’s shop. So the 
‘"old fellow came to church, and the very 
first time he presented himself for 
prayer. The evangelist was about the 
only one who attached any importance 
to it, he not knowing anything of the 
old man’s history. Oh, how often our 
^'knowledge of men destroys our faith 
in them and renders us powerless to do 
them any good ! So it was with this old 
man. All o T us only thought the old 



A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


115 


man easily touched, as is often the caseK^^a^^s^i^ i y 
with those under the influence of liquor. 

However, the old man was back the 

next night, and at the close of the ser-Next night. 

mon the old man came forward, totter- 

ing as he walked, and, extending his 

hand, said: ‘‘I have taken Christ as my Takes chnst. 

Savior: I feel now I can trust Him ” his savior. 

At this many began to believe the old 

man in earnest. But oh! how will 

overcome the terrible habit which, like Terrible habit. 

a boa-constrictor, has been winding 

around him and holding him in its sa- 

tanic coils for so many years? The Many years. 

old man took his seat on the front 

bench and offered himself for member- bership. 

ship. He was somewhat reluctantly 

received for baptism. We did not 

hurry up his baptism, but I determined 

to stand by and encourage the old man, 

and as there was no one of his own 

color to even eat a meal with him, I 

invited him to come and eat Christmas ^diuner.'^"'^^ 

dinner at my house. The evangelist 

was stopping at another house just 

across the street, and seeing the old 



116 


A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


man going into niy house as I walked 
^fron?famn'^ hy his side to keep him from falling, ex¬ 
claimed, as I was told hy the man with 
whom he was stopping: ‘‘That looks 
like religion to me.” This man is a 
Skeptic. great skeptic, but he said: “R— is a 
good fellow.” And when I left the held 
Purse for me. that Same mau made up a purse of one 
hundred and twenty-hve dollars for me 
as a present. How much my treatment 
of the old man had to do with it is 
more than I can tell. 

^^ciosei' ” ^ Well, time wore on, the meeting 
closed in a day or so, the evangelist 
At his post. left. Uncle Ben was always at his post 
until the want of stimulants began to 
tell on his system. So a doctor was 
Bedridden, summoucd. The old man was bed¬ 
ridden with what seemed to be nervous 
Worse. prostration, and continued to get worse. 

The doctor told him he must take 
Whisky. some whisky to strengthen him; that 
the shock caused by stopping so sud¬ 
denly at his advanced age was more 
than he could stand; besides, his sys¬ 
tem naturally called for alcoholic stim- 



A I^KTTKR FROM THF PASTOR. 117 


ulatits. But no argument from physi¬ 
cians or friends could induce him toyield Yield, 
an inch. So the second physician was 
summoned, who gave the same prescrip¬ 
tion, with the same results, saying: 

‘‘Uncle Ben, it is a case of life and death; ufeanddeath, 
you must take stimulants or you will 
certainly die.” To this the old man^^e- 
turned his head away, as much as to 
say: “Then let me die.” In a few hours me die. 
all was over. Uncle Ben was gone, but, 
thank the Lord! he endured to the 
and died rather than swallow one droponedrop. 
of that from which God had so wonder¬ 
fully delivered him. The effect was 
wonderful. Men who made no preten¬ 
sion to religion and seldom ever went 
to church called to do honor to the 
heroic dead. The funeral was preached Heroic dead, 
in the same church where not three 
months ago he gave his heart to Christ 
and said: “I will trust Him.” One 
banker, two doctors, and others of the 
most leading men in town were the 
pall-bearers, and all seemed to think it paii-bearers. 
an honor to perform any act or do any 



118 A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


Buried. thing towards his burial. The crowd 
was very large at the funeral, notwith- 
Deepsnow. Standing the snow was very deep and 
traveling dangerous. Thus we laid Un- 
^^^cle Ben to rest in the silent city of the 
Farewell. dead. Farewcll, thou heroic soul thin! 
black - faced Stormy has been thy lonely life, and 
'long has been the voyage across life’s 
dark and turbulent sea, but thy sun 
has set without a cloud, and thy frail 
bark, weather-beaten, shivered, thun¬ 
der-riven andlightning-scarred,without 
mast or sail, has reached home at last. 
Like Samson of old, thou hast done 
more in death than in all thy long and 
stormy life. 

May those who chance to read this 
letter (all the essential facts of which 
are known to the writer to be true) 
Courage. take fresh courage and find in this 
narrative a new inspiration to imitate 
Him who went about doing good. Re- 
Notinvain. member, your work is not in vain in 
the Lord. With this I will proceed to 
bring this epistle to a close, after giv¬ 
ing you in practical and concise form 



A LETTER FROM THE PAST'6r. 119 


some proverbs which embody my plans 
of work, following the revival. 

1st. I never try to imitate the evan- imitate, 
gelist; he can say and do in a revival 
that which would be neither safe or 
needful for the pastor in his regular 
work. 

2d. I do not look on the new mem¬ 
bers as ripe Christians, but as babes in Babe in Christ. 
Christ, and as such I strive to teach 
them the simple but necessary truths of 
the Bible. Thus, as Paul said, “feed¬ 
ing them on the milk of the word,” 
which they are able to digest and 
appropriate to their spiritual and moral 
nature. 

3d. I think to make all the different 
meetings of the church as warm and warm, 
interesting as possible. I always try 
to meet the new members with a smil¬ 
ing face and give each of them a hearty smiiingr face, 
shake of the hand, and especially those 
who are a little sensitive on account of 
their former life, family, or estate. I Former life, 
make it a point to have the older mem¬ 
bers do the same. 



120 A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


4th. I Strive to plan and lay out 
Workforeach. some kind of work for each one, trying 
to give them something in keeping 
with their ability and taste; and when 
done, I speak of their success in an 
approving way. As I told you before, 
I encourage the reading of good books 
and especially of our denominational 
papers. In this way they are not only 
developed intellectually, .but they are 
brought into sympathy with all our 
benevolent enterprises, and soon be¬ 
come hearty contributors to the same. 
I knew one boy, fourteen years old, who 
went morning and evening, after and 
Doctor's horse; before school, and attended to a doctor^s 
Make money, horsc, iu Order to make some money 
with which to help build the Baptist 
church in East St. Louis. 

Another boy of thirteen, who only 
' received two dollars and thirty-five 
cents per week for working in a store, 
gave one dollar per week of that 
the tool expense of a tent meeting 

for the benefit of the poor who had no 
church privileges. Many more such 


Success. 


Good books. 


Developed. 


Boy. 



A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


121 


incidents could be related, but these 
will illustrate the effect of my plan. 

But before I close, I must tell you of 
an experiment we have made in order Experiment, 
to enlist these new members, and one 
Avhich, in the case of the young, has 
worked like a charm. Have an ejSicient charm, 
teacher organize a new class composed 
of these new members, say for both 
sexes, one class called the young ladies’ 
class, another called the young men’s 
class; all of them Christians. Let the 
teacher in charge take her place in 
the class as a member of the same, and 
have a member of the class teach every 
Sunday, taking it alphabetically; 
teaches to-day, B next Sunday. All 
cases of uncertainty will be settled by 
the teacher, to whom the acting teacher 
always feels free to appeal. In this 
way all will become interested, the 
lesson will be studied, and the mem¬ 
bers themselves soon develop into 
teachers; thus the class becomes a kind 
of normal drill, in which teachers will Normal drill, 
be prepared by actual experience to 



122 


A I.ETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


take charge of other classes. This is 
not a newborn theory, but a practically 
demonstrated fact, and has been carried 
Best results. Qut with the very best results by a 
young lady in my church. 

Another and very effective*way not 
only to develop and instruct the church 
(both young and old members), but 
also to give an ever-growing interest 
the Wednesday night prayer-meet¬ 
ing, is to carefully prepare and deliver 
a lecture each week on some important 
subject taken from the Bible, or from 
the field and work, in which all should 
be interested. For example, a lecture 
on the book of Genesis, one on the 
patriarchs, and another on the flood, 
followed by one on the descendants of 
Noah, giving the origin of the three 
great divisions of the human family. 
Moses is a fine subject; so are David 
and Daniel. 

Literature. From the field lecture ou the Publi- 
Missions. cation Society, missions—State, home, 

and foreign; give a series of lectures 
History. upou chuFch history. I have known 



A I^KTTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


123 


persons won to the church and brought 
into the fold by listening to a conver¬ 
sation on church history. I find in 
this way my house is usually full on 
Sunday, and scarcely ever less than 
half full on Wednesday night. 

After the lecture, which is never ^ 
more than thirty minutes long, we have 
the regular service of prayer and song, 
with such other service as the case 
seems to demand. Of course, this . 
means work, and lots of it, but the work, study, 
study expended on these lectures tells 
with wonderful effect on the intelli¬ 
gence of the pastor, keeps him bright, 
gives a polish to the sword he wields 
on Sunday, and makes him not only a 
man of the people, but also a workman 
who needeth not to be ashamed. Too 
many of our preachers study hard in 
college to get a diploma, and after that 
is secured seem to say, like the woman 
when baptized, “it is a dip and down.Dip and down. 
Such divines are like young wasps, 
larger at first than ever again. But 
these lectures will not only develop the 



124 A letter from the pastor. 


pastor and make him strong, but will 
tell with lasting effect on the member¬ 
ship of his church, and make his 
Wednesday night meeting one of the 
most telling of all his services. Having 
tried this myself, I would heartily com¬ 
mend it to you and other pastors to 
whom you may see fit to send this letter. 

I close by expressing the hope that 
the evangelist who was here with us 
will, at some time in the near future, 
give to the brethren who may or may 
not have his services in special meet- 
^work!"*" °^ings some short and tangible out¬ 
lines of work to guide us in leading 
souls to Christ, that we may the better 
harvest the results of our labors. 

That such a work is needed will 
appear from the following quotation: 
‘‘In one of our great cities there is a 
^ence.Ministers’ Conference, composed of all 
the Protestant ministers in the entire 
city. They meet every Monday in the 
M. C.^A. building. On one of these 
occasions an address was delivered on 
the evangelist and the modern revival 



A letter from the pastor. 125 


meeting. After several had expressed 
their views, one of the most prominent 
and most useful pastors in the city 
arose and said: ‘Brethren, I spent eight 
years in college and seminary prepar¬ 
ing for the ministry. I have been 
taught to read Hebrew, Greek, and 
Latin, have studied church and eccle¬ 
siastical history—in fact, everything 
pertaining to the ministry, except the 
one thing needed, to-wit: how to labor 
with souls so as to bring them to 
Christ. It is strange, but in all the n is strange, 
lectures I have received, covering all 
my theological training, not one was 
ever delivered on this subject, nor did 
I ever hear a word as to the plans, pur¬ 
poses, or results of revival meetings. 

It can not be that these great and good 
men are not interested in the work. Good men. 

I therefore conclude that while they 
are informed on the branches they 
teach, it is doing them no injustice to 
say I am convinced they have said 
nothing because they know but little, said nothing, 
if anything, relative to the subject we 



126 A letter from the pastor. 


More light. 


A letter. 


are now discussing. I therefore most 
heartily endorse the essay, and give 
my hand in token of the same to my 
brother, with the wish that God will 
greatly bless him in his noble work.^ ’’ 

If any apology is needed for giving 
this letter to the public and calling on 
the evangelist to give ns more light on 
this, the most important department of 
Christian work, surely the above state¬ 
ment will be sufficient if true, as I be¬ 
lieve it to be. Indeed, a work of this 
nature should have the first place in 
our theological libraries and be read 
by every Christian worker. With this 
I close. May the great Head of the 
Church bless you, the Holy Spirit be 
your guide, and your visit to us prove 
a blessing to your church and city. 

Yours for the King. 

After the meeting. 

P. S.—As a supplement to my let¬ 
ter, I will enclose a letter from a brother 
pastor in an adjoining State; also 
some clippings from the daily as well 
as religious press. Pardon me for say- 



A letter from the pastor. 127 


iiig we would have had a fuller report 
from our daily paper, as they sent a re¬ 
porter, who wrote up the meetings in 
fine style for the first few nights, but 
finally he said: can’t attend and Had to stop, 

write up that meeting, for if I continue 
to go, I will become a Christian, and as 
both the editors of my paper are infi-^^or®)®®®®^^* 
dels, I will have to write criticisms on 
the evangelist or lose my place, so I 
am going to stop writing.” Hence the 
brevity of the report. It is perhaps a 
little immodest in me to allow these 
letters and clippings to accompany this 
letter, inasmuch as they are largely con¬ 
nected with my own work and that of 
our evangelist, but I love truth more^t’han 
than modesty; besides, I prefer letting 
someone else bear testimony to many 
facts stated in this epistle. And I do so 
that you may give your church a fair 
and impartial report of the meetings 
as seen by yourself while with us. 

Yours. 

P. S.—These reports will be found 
ill a supplement in the back of the 



128 A LETTER FROM THE PASTOR. 


book, copied directly from correspond¬ 
ents, whose names are in their own 
hand and preserved in my library. 

The Author. 


s 



CHAPTER VI. 


OUTLINE OP WORK FOR PAS¬ 
TORS AND EVANGELIST. 


TP some one falls out with yon and 
I declares that he will never hear you 
preach, don’t get alarmed; you will 
never miss him and the earth will re¬ 
volve just the same when he is gone. 
If everything don’t work just to suit 
you, don’t show 3 "our temper and abuse 
the church. One of the lessons learned 
in the school of experience is, when 
you can’t get people to do what you 
want them to do, get them to do the 
best you can. Don’t be sour; more 
men make fortunes on sugar 
vinegar. In your work for the Master 
never try to offend anyone, but if any¬ 
one feels it his duty to abuse you, go 
evenly on. Barking dogs never bite, 
and the one hit does the hollowing. 




130 


OUTLINE OF WORK. 


Moreover, you sHould remember a fice 
can bray the moon; therefore don’t 
stop to kill every dog that barks at 
^muies/ “ ^ you- Even a mule can kick back. So 
when others question your sincerity, or 
attack your plans, “ Let your bow abide 
in strength and the arms of your hands 
shall be made strong by the hands of 
the mighty God of Jacob.” 

In the very beginning give your 
® audience to understand you say what 

you mean and mean what you say. In 
beginning as pastor or evangelist, 
never listen to suggestions from any¬ 
one until you know the religious 
standing and intellectual caliber of 
the one making them, as those who 
trouble the church most will be the 
After you. first after you. Don’t scold, but give 
everyone to understand you mean busi- 
Be on time, ness and expect success. Be on time 
yourself and reqnire others to do the 
same. If the church agrees to have 
services at midnight or midday, begin 
on time to the minute. People have 



OUTLINE OE WORK. 


131 


no more right to be late at church 
than at court. 

A grand-nephew of Henry Clayiienryciay. 
said to me once: “Promptness is next 
of kin to godliness.” Give ample time 
during the prayer and praise service 
for seating the audience. Have the 
people sit so as to seat every one 
possible. Announce beforehand that 
after a certain specified time no ushers 
will be on the floor and no seats will 
be exchanged. In this way great annoy¬ 
ance will be prevented, the ushers can 
hear the sermon, and the crowd will 
be on time; life and animation will 
characterize the meeting, and a feeling 
of cheerfulness will pervade the audi¬ 
ence from first to last. With reference 
to the house, remember there is one 
way to fill a house and another way to 
fill it up. 

As for the sexton, there is no more 
important or difficult place to fill in 
the working forces of a meeting. A 
timid boy or a trashy man should never 
be allowed to attend to the house in 



132 


OUTLINE OF WORK, 


time of the meeting. A few general 
rules may be given for the benefit of 
the sexton: first, never listen to anyone, 
unless it be the pastor or evangelist, 
because often, while those in the house 
are smothering with heat and fairly 
panting for breath, others, just in, are 
cold and will want more fire. Have a 
thermometer and keep your heat be- 
tween sixty-five and seventy degrees, 
with plenty of fresh air; always venti¬ 
late from the top; in ventilating, either 
ventilate from the side opposite the 
direction of the wind, or else skip 
windows, so as to prevent draft; never 
Ventilation, attend to stoves or ventilation while 
the text is being read, or an invitation 
given. Have your fires under control 
so you can let your artificial heat de¬ 
crease in proportion as the animal 
heat accumulates; in this way you will 
not get the house too warm. It should 
be borne in mind that it is more 
injurious to health to have the tempera¬ 
ture too warm than a little cool. It is 
a fact that a pure gospel and fresh air 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


133 


work well together. As an engineer 
has the lives of his passengers in the 
hand which holds the throttle, so the 
sexton holds not only the physical 
comfort, blit also the health of his con¬ 
gregation in the hand with which he 
makes the fire. 

In going to church, everyone should 
have or get the church time, and in 
this way all who come will get there 
about the same time, each one find¬ 
ing, by timing himself, just how long*^ 3 ™if"*^ 
it takes to get there. If late, take it as 
your misfortune. If a seat is to be 
had, get it as quietly as possible; but if 
not, don’t'expect someone else to give 
you his. It might cost some man 
his soul^for all eternity to give you his 
seat just at that time. Don’t go 
church to .enjoy yourself, but to work, 
just as the pupil goes to school to learn. 

A pastor once said to me: ^‘You must 
remember these people come to church 
to be entertained.’’ “Then,” said I, 

“they had better go to the circus. If^ciowa* 
that is all they are after, I am sure a 


■Im- 


that 


and 



134 


OUTLINE OE WORK. 


Service 

song. 


All stand. 


Select! 

singers. 


clown can beat me on that.” Go to 
church as a matter of duty, and serve 
God because it is right. Then your 
steps will lead to the house of God and 
others will not be lost by your neglect. 

In revival meetings as usually con¬ 
ducted, too much stress can hardly be 
®^put on the service of song. This be¬ 
ing the case, a good leader and a faith¬ 
ful organist are of supreme importance. 
It is also important that the best sing¬ 
ers should sit together, so as to give 
volume; at the same time, the entire 
audience should enter heartily into the 
song. If the leader gives the com¬ 
mand to stand, all should rise in a 
body, as a failure to do so indicates a 
disposition not to carry out the will of 
the leader, and unless there is some 
physical disability or some local cause 
which can easily be seen, one is inex¬ 
cusable for such conduct. Be it remem¬ 
bered that if your leader whom you have 
chosen canh get you to obey his in¬ 
structions, it is hardly to be supposed 
^ that sinners will. In selecting singers, 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


135 


it is desirable that a few substantial 
members of the church should take 
their place and sing in the choir. It 
will not only give it a moral tone, but 
be a preservative of good order. In¬ 
difference to the gospel is heathenish 
anywhere, but perfectly savage in the 
choir. There should be no whisper¬ 
ing or passing of notes, but everyone 
should strive to become interested in 
the sermon, and in this way the inter¬ 
est will catch in the audience like fire 
catches from a high to a low building. 
Indifference will catch in the same 
way. Henry Clay could never succeed, 
with all his eloquence, if John Ran¬ 
dolph went to sleep. In getting these 
singers, allow the unconverted to come unconverted, 
in, and in this way they will be brought 
in sympathy with the meeting, and in 
many cases they will be converted. 

In selecting hymns, have reference to 
their sentiment; then sing it out. 

Don’t only have reference to music, but 
to words as well. For instance: I 
heard once of a Sunday-school proces- 



136 


OUTLINE OF WORK. 


sion being led by one of the best men 
^blnner"*^ in all the country, carrying a banner, 
and just as they were approaching the 
crowd of spectators they began to sing, 
Satan leading, mighty host advauciug, Satan 

leading on.” A colored brother at a 
At a wedding, weddlug saug, as a part of his ceremony, 
‘^Plunged in a gulf of dark despair, ye 
wretched sinners lay.” Some time 
since, while I was urging people to 
stay for an after-meeting, my choir was 
singing for dear life, while the people 
^awaV! ^^^^were crowding out, “Haste thee away, 
why wilt thou stay? risk not thy soul 
on a moment’s delay.” Nowhere in 
Christian work is good judgment as to 
the fitness of things of more import¬ 
ance than in the selection of appro¬ 
priate hymns. Next to selection is 
pfomptness, and especially after the 
sermon. 

The least delay in the song or drag 
in the music will often spoil the after¬ 
effects of the best sermon. It seems 
Satan a thief, that Satau steals the effect of a sermon 
sometimes while the organist is get- 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


137 


ting on the stool or the leader is find¬ 
ing a hymn. A good plan is to call 
your hymn to be sung at the close of”t«t.“ 
the sermon when you take your text, 
then you know the selection and every¬ 
thing will start without friction at the 
close of sermon. Don’t hesitate to sing 
slower or faster than the music is 
written—that is,when the cause demands 
it. Remember angels didn’t write the 
music, nor are the notes infallible. 

Some verses should be sung slowly, 
others softly, and still another repeated 
in full voice first, then softly, then in 
full voice; sometimes one sing a verse, 
then the choir, then the entire congre¬ 
gation. Sometimes the stanza should 
be sung’ by the choir and all fall in on 
the chorus; sometimes one voice should 
sing the stanza and all ring out the 
chorus. 

In singing with children in chil¬ 
dren’s meetings, have them sing the 
stanza, then help on the chorus. Solo singing, 
singing in revival work may be done 
to great advantage if the following 



138 


OUTI.INE) OF WORK. 


rules are observed: first, have a com¬ 
petent singer; second, have a wise 
selection; third, sing at the right time; 
and fourth, in the right way. A soft, 
mellow solo is better to lead devotion 
Excited leader in prayer than a boisterous and excited 
leader who draws the minds of the 
people from the Lord to himself, as is 
too often the case. With the above 
reference to a solo in prayer, we now 
offer a few suggestions relative to 
Prayer. prayer, not in a general, but a specific 
way. So much has been said and 
written on prayer that it would be 
entirely out of taste to undertake the 
task of showing in this work either 
its general importance, personal bene¬ 
fits, or individual privileges. But we 
may be excused for offering a few 
suggestions as to its place in the re¬ 
vival meeting. Remember that prayer 
caverns. ®"has its source in subterranean caverns 
and is the only fountain from whence 
come revival streams. Organization 
machinery and perseverance can get 
up and continue a meeting any time or 



OUTLINK OP WORK. 


139 


in any place, but only praying people 
can get down a meeting. Then we 
suggest: first, that we should be pru¬ 
dent in prayer, (a) Never hold the^p?aylr“'^ 
congregation long in prayer while the 
people are coming in; they will become 
cold and wearied waiting for you to 
stop, (d) Always speak out distinctly IStinctiy. 
so the congregation can join in with 
you; avoid boisterous and meaningless 
exclamations on the one hand and 
whisperings on the other. Paul said, 
pray so the brethren can understand 
you; then they can say amen. It is to Amen, 
be regretted that many good men lose 
their influence with the audience by 
useless repetitions, such as “O God,”“oGod.” 
“Our heavenly Father,” then at the 
next sentence “O God,” until differ¬ 
ent ones are counting the times the 
Deity is addressed in the one prayer. 

I knew one man who did this until his 
own pastor told me he had used the 
same expression “twenty-five times iii 
one prayer.” Such a habit is inexcus¬ 
able and borders on irreverence. 



140 


OUTI^INK OP WORK. 


Once. 


Oiir Father. 


Twice. 


"World. 


"VVanderin 

boy. 


“Pray forme.’ 


Answer y o u i 
own prayers 


Ill the beautiful lesson on prayer 
given by the Savior, the Deity is only 
addressed once, then in the most rever¬ 
ential way. ‘‘When ye pray,^^ said He, 
“say, Onr Father which art in heaven,’’ 
etc. Second, Be definite. Some one 
has said: “Before yon enter into your 
closet, go twice around your house.” 
In other words, think before yon pray; 
have a definite object; don’t pray all 
over the world in one prayer. Give 
the Lord credit for knowing how old 
He is and how long He will live equally 
as well as yon do. If some one has 
^ requested prayer for a wandering boy, 
a dissipated companion, or if some poor 
- sinner has said, “Pray for me,” don’t go 
talking to the Lord about the “heathen 
in China, the Government, the sick, or 
the poor.” If some people who are 
great to pray and poor to pay would 
[ answer their own prayers by giving to 
missions, visiting the sick, and helping 
the poor, there would be more time 
left to pray for sinners in the revival 
meeting. Again, comply with the 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


141 


conditions on which the answer is conditions, 
promised: (a) Letyourobject be such an 
one as God can grant without doing 
violence to principles of right, (d) Be - Believe, 
lieve God will give you the desire of 
your heart, (c) Donhbecome weary,but 
continue to ask. Remember the widow continue, 
and the unjust judge. One woman 
prayed for her husband for twenty years Twenty years, 
without a sig’n of an answer; we saw 
him converted. Another prayed God 
for seventeen years to save her husband 
from drink, and as he only got worse, 
she gave up, but on hearing of the 
other case, she got out of bed and fall¬ 
ing on her knees said: “I’ll pray for"^ 
John till I die.” He was also con¬ 
verted. Thus we see the Lord always 
gives us more than we can ask or think. 

(d) The Savior taught agreement in 
prayer as one of the essential condi¬ 
tions, saying, “If any two or three of 
you agree as touching one thing you Agree^'eat 
shall ask in my name, I will do it.” A 
young man by the name of King was 
so dissipated and reckless that the com- 



142 


OUTLINE OF WORK. 


fort and standing of the family de¬ 
manded his expulsion from home. He 
A tramp. was picked up a tramp and brought 
into my service. I learned his history 
from his own lips. He was converted 
and returned to his mother’s arms, but 
imagine my surprise to learn, in a let¬ 
ter from his father, that there was a 
Praying band, praying baud organized at his request 
with members in two cities, for the 
express purpose of praying for that 
lost and ruined boy. 

Public prayer. ^3 pubHc prayer in revival work, 
all pride or stiffness should be laid 
aside. The more spirit and the less 
form you can have, the better. Short- 
sentence prayers in concert are very de- 
siient prayer, sirable for mauy reasons. Silent 
^pr”aye”“°“®P^^y^^ is ofteu Very effective; continu¬ 
ous prayer, with volunteer leaders, in 
the right spirit and at the proper time, 
may be used with great power. In 
^duty.* ^^ “ conclusion, let me say this is one Chris¬ 
tian duty which cannot be overdone. 
It is the breeze on which we rise above 
the sun, beyond the skies, to see the 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


143 


beauty of the King and hear the harps Vea“ufy. * “ 
of heaven ring. We now pass to what 
we may call Christian work in the re-^J^ork*‘'^ 
vival meeting. Whatever you do, throw 
your soul in it. If there is an oppor¬ 
tunity given to testify, never wait for 
some one else, but get up at once; never 
offer an apology, but say what you have Apology, 
to say for Christ as his witness for the 
truth, and take your seat. Never fix 
up a speech for such occasions, but 
speak as the Spirit of the Lord and the 
occasion may give you utterance. In 
speaking to sinners, be in earnest and 
seize the opportunity for further in¬ 
struction on this line. Read the chap¬ 
ter, reporting the meeting by the com- committee, 
mittee. In preaching, watch the effect 
of the sermon; if there is an indication 
that the net is on the right side, land Ri&nt side, 
it at once. Remember a half sermon 
with good results is better than a whole 
one with none. Always have some- 
thing to say when you preach or talk, 
and stop when you get through. Some 
men talk always and say nothing. 



144 


OUTLINE OF WORK. 


Mercy on sex¬ 
ton. 

Kill eagles. 

Brass cannon. 

Free salvation 
Water of li^. 

Pitcher. 


Coffin. 

Living. 

Dead. 

Proposition. 


Disappointed. 


Have mercy on the sexton, and you will 
have fewer vacant seats next time. 

Study your audience, so as to get 
their level. Men do not kill eagles 
with pop-guns, nor hunt quails with 
brasscannon. Success often depends on 
the fitness of things. “New wine must 
be put in new bottles.’’ Preach a free 
salvation and bring to men the water 
of life, but give them to understand 
you expect pay for the pitcher. Re¬ 
member a flower in the hand of a live 
child is better than a handful in the 
coffin, so one word to the living is bet¬ 
ter than a sermon to the dead. In re¬ 
vival meetings, do not make too man}^ 
propositions, as one not accepted is 
worse than none at all. When there 
is doubt as to a proposition being ac¬ 
cepted, put it in such a way as to leave 
it entirely optional with those to 
whom addressed; whether or not it is 
accepted, never seem disappointed. In 
extending propositions and taking ex¬ 
pressions always get the unconverted 
to do the easiest thing first, as making 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


145 


the start is always the hardest thing Hardest thing, 
to get him or her to do. 

Have your choir sing while your 
crowd is dispersing, and warn Chris¬ 
tians against any undue levity after Levity, 
dismission, as sinners will have a ten¬ 
dency to doubt the sincerity of those 
who were pleading with them in tears 
so soon convulsed with laughter. In-Laughter.: 
stead of hurrying away, putting on 
overshoes, wraps, and such like, Chris¬ 
tians should remember this is an oppor¬ 
tune time to search out and speak fosearch^ut. 
sinners, as there is no time during 
the service when they can be so readily 
approached. None will take offence, 
and all will feel free. In many cases reel free, 
the first offer for prayer, and often the 
first conversion in the meeting, is 
brought about by some Christian in 
this way. Whenever a sinner says with 
earnestness, ^^Pray for me,” don’t say 
“I will,” but find a vacant place, and 
inviting him to accompany you, go 
there; say, “Let us pray right here and Let ns pray, 
now.” In another chapter will be 



146 


OUTI.INK OF WORK. 


found instructions for this kind of 
work. In trying to reach and win 
^Gol "^'°”some one for Christ, rely upon God 
for success, and should your effort fail, 
remember the object for which yon 
^Go'!iith.''”'^^3.bor is worth another effort. David 
took five stones in his shepherd’s bag 
with which to slay Goliath, evidently 
bent on another trial in case the first 
Four men. Four men brought one to Jesus 

with a two-fold blessing awaiting their 
exertions: the first in store for the 
man they brought, and the second was 
they got there themselves in bringing 
Personal work In personal work, never stop to 

discuss propositions with a sinner 
while there are others needing your 
attention, nor allow yourself to be 
Controversy. coutroversy on doctrinal or 

sectarian propositions. Give him to 
understand you are not considering 
the welfare of your church; that it can 
Without him. get on without him, but he can’t be 
saved unless he repents. Never stand 
off and see the meeting fail, then say, 
so." ■ ”“I told you so,” nor wait for someone 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


147 


else to start it, then say, “Hurrah for 

ns!” Come in, my brother, at the start, 
and, like Mary of old, have it said of 
3’ou, “He hath done w^hat he could.” 
Remember there is something else for 
you to do besides showing your time¬ 
piece; that passengers never keep time Time piece, 
for the conductor, and that it is a mean conductor, 
thing to shoot a preacher with a watch. ^ 

In conference meetings, if four persons 
are asked to speak for Christ, common 
sense, to say nothing of good taste, de¬ 
mands that each one be brief, but in 
case there is a brother who insists on 
spreading himself, to the disgust of 
the congregation and detriment of the 
meeting, don’t let him preach the fu- 
neral of your meeting, but watch him, 
and as soon as he makes a point or stops 
for breath, say, “There, brother, let us 
all pray, and you lead us in a short 
prayer.” He will do it and feel compli- ne win do it. 
mented. In this way you stop him and stop him. 
at the same time save his friendship. 

Such men often run people away from Run away, 
church b}" their imprudence, then fall 



148 


OUTLINE OF WORK. 


out with the preacher for not drawing a 
A crowd. crowd. Have your people sit close to¬ 
gether. It has time and again been de¬ 
monstrated that a scattered congregation 
is hard to impress; there is an inexpli- 
Eibow-touch. cable something in the elbow-touch of 
Christians in church. Let those who 
scatter all over a large auditorium on a 
stormy Sunday or a rainy night re- 
Fish andmember that fish go in schools and 

sheep. 

Thorn.s. sheep in flocks. One of the thorns in 
the pastor’s flesh is a vacant seat in 
front of him. Again, if you have had 
Pay t h e a quarter changed with which to pay 
the preacher, don’t tell everybody he is 
preaching for money, boast of your 
liberality, nor let your three-year-old 
child spoil more than one sermon a 
week. Such benevolence, boasting, 
and noise is more than most preachers 
can stand long at a time; therefore, if 
your child cries long or loud, don’t 
Choke him. choke him, but carry him out; it may 
^'meetiil spoil tlic cliild, but it will save the meet¬ 
ing; besides, the preacher can get on 
without the child’s help, and a little 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


149 


home persuasion, given in broken Broken doses, 
doses, will save you embarassment in 
the future. Of crying children, fight- 
ing dogs, and braying mules, furnished 
by people who ought to know better, 
many preachers can truly say, ‘‘I have 
suffered much of thee.” With refer¬ 
ence to order, too much cannot be said 
in its favor, and as many persons of ill m breeding, 
breeding who seldom if ever attend 
church come to the revival meeting, it 
is absolutely necessary that special at¬ 
tention be given to preserving and en¬ 
forcing good discipline; indeed, order 
is the first law of heaven, and the apos- Heaven’s law. 

tie Paul said in I. Corinthians 14:40: 

‘Xet all things be done decently and 
in order.” As there are a multiplicity 
of causes which lead to disorder, so 
different remedies must be applied. 

No patent ^‘nostrum” nor “king cure-“ an". 
all” can or will reach the case; then let 
us first diagnose the disease and then 
search for the remedy. It is certain 
that disturbances often proceed from 
insignificant causes, yet the cause is 



1 


150 OUTLINE OF WORK. 


such that well-meaning people, and 
often those interested most in the 
meeting, are for the time being con¬ 
vulsed with laughter, and the effort to 
^t°rouMe.^^^ suppress it only tends to prolong the 
trouble. For instance, I was preaching 
in one of our largest and most influ- 
^^^"'ential churches in the State of Illinois 
some time since; shortly after begin¬ 
ning to preach, I saw a ripple of unac¬ 
countable levity among some of the 
best and most useful workers in the 
church. This was repeated several 
times, to my annoyance and disadvan¬ 
tage; finally I remarked, “If there is any 
thing I have said of such nature as to 
produce merriment, I fail to see it,’^ 
thinking it was something I had said 
in a bungling way at which these 
young people were tickled. But imag¬ 
ine my surprise to learn I had a rival 
A little mouse, in a little mouse, which had evidently 
come from the dining-room of the 
church and was running among the 
benches, between the pews, in front of 
the pulpit, along the aisles, over and 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


151 


under the feet of iiiy auditors, to their 
great amusement and my disgust. On 
several occasions I have seen great dis¬ 
turbance caused by a bird, especially a Bird or bat. 
bat; sometimes a child will get to sleep 
and snoring and thus attract attention; snoring, 
sometimes bad ventilation will cause a 
want of oxygen and an accumulation 
of carbonic acid gas, the result of 
which is to produce a sluggish, sleepy sieepy. 
indifference, which no eloquence can 
charm and no logic instruct. In all 
of these cases and many of a similar 
nature, the remedy is to be found in 
practical common sense, and not in 
ecclesiastical rebukes. In case of the 
merriment, as indicated above, stop 
short off and relate a good story; en¬ 
courage the laugh, and in this way 
the pent-up feeling will escape, and 
all hands will settle down to the ser¬ 
mon in good earnest. By so doing 
you save your temper, the good will 
your audience, and the effect of your 
sermon. In case of the bird and the 
ventilation, stop at the end of a divis- 



152 


OUTLINE OF WORK. 


ion-or subdivision of your subject, have 
your audience stand and sing. Have 
^^wludows doors and windows thrown wide open; 
opeued. escape and the fresh air 

‘ will come in, and, like the sun breaking 
out from behind the cloud, your audi¬ 
ence will brighten up and become re¬ 
sponsive. That feeling of depression 
will flee away, your thoughts will come 
quickly, your tongue will move at your 
command, your words will become like 
polished weapons in the hands of a 
trained expert, before whose lightning 
sweep the enemies of the cross will fall 
°^and the cohorts of Satan fly. So far 
as the snoring child is concerned, it 
seems a reflection on the reader’s intelli¬ 
gence to say, “Have someone to shake 
him, and all will be well.” 

^ Snifoyance^^ Auother, aud in many cases inex¬ 
cusable, annoyance is the oft-repeated 
habit of running in and out of the 
house; again, needless and persistent 
whispering, laughing, etc., often done 
by three or four persons, who show con¬ 
clusively, by their persistency in so do- 



outline: of work. 


153 


ing, that they care nothing for the 
speaker, the meeting, or the cause. In 
such cases, give general notice of your 
intention to preserve order, and in a 
general way warn persons against ex-wam person* 
posing themselves to your rebuke. Do 
this on taking your text, or when there 
is no disturbance. In this way the 
thoughtless but well-meaning persons 
will become careful, and nothing but 
unintentional disturbance will appear. 

Now the way is clear; public sentiment, way is dear, 
good breeding, the gospel, and the civil civiiiaw. 
law are all on your side. In administer¬ 
ing a reproof, be civil, but determined. 

Show them the folly of their course; 

make one reproof do for all. If this 

fails to produce the desired effect, the 

next best thing is to have someone 

secure the names of the persons so Secure names. 

offending, having them give you the 

names thus secured; announce the fact 

at the next service, and offer a truce Flagr of truce. 

on the following conditions: (a) That 

these disturbances cease at once, (d) 

That no outside abuse of the leader be 



154 


outlin:^ of work 


indulged in, or hindrances be thrown 
in the way of the meeting. This will 
usually be sufficient. But, in case it 
seems to fail, then simply announce 
your intention to give the names to the 
^prlss!^ public from pulpit and press. Then 
turn the offender over to the civil au¬ 
thorities as any other felon, to be dealt 
with according to law. If this course is 
pursued with,c©ol deliberation on your 
part, you will never fail, nor will you 
ever have to carry your intentions into 
Simple story, effcct. Sometimos a simple story told 
at the beginning of a sermon will 
secure order and rivet attention. For 
instance, someone related the follow¬ 
ing incident: “A preacher was preach¬ 
ing in the open air to an immense 
audience. All at once a young man 
began to act in such a way as not only 
to disturb the speaker, but everyone 
near him. He was severely reproved; 
but imagine the preacher’s surprise on 
dismissing the audience to have an old 
Shaking lady exclaim, shaking her fist and wav¬ 
ing her cotton umbrella, ‘You had no 



OUTLINE OF WORK. 


155 


business to do that; I ’ll have you to 
know that was my boy.^ ‘Then why 
don^t you make him behave himself?’ 
said the indignant divine. ‘ ’Cause 
he is mule-kicked!’ said the enragedlacked, 
mother.” It should be remembered, 
however, that the teacher who makes a 
reputation for dexterity in wielding 
the rod., and the preacher who has to 
beg or scold to preserve order or secure 
attention,have missed their calling, and 
should step down and out. With the 
command of God as his commission, 
the world his field, Satan his antagon¬ 
ist, heaven his reward, and souls for 
his hire, any man who feels the im¬ 
portance of his work certainly ought 
to put enthusiasm enough into his ser¬ 
mon to command respect. It is said 
that Edwin Booth, the great tragedian, til 

was once asked by a celebrated divine 
to explain how it was that “when you 
act fiction, people are affected as though 
it were truth, but when I preach truth, 
they treat it as fiction.” To this the 
great actor replied: “I act fiction as if 



156 


OUTI.INB OF WORK. 


it were truth, while you preach truth as 
though it were fiction.’’ Surely there 
is a lesson in the above quotation for all 
Christian workers, whether in pulpit 
prlye^ or pcw. Remember that truth on 

and zeal. .. .. . ^ 

wheels, prayer on wings, and zeal on 
fire will bring heaven down, arouse the 
community, and revive the church. 



CHAPTER VII. 


INSTRUCTIONS FOR PER¬ 
SONAL WORK. 


Heaven’s gate is shut to him who comes alone; 
Save thou a soul, and it shall save thine own. 

H aving, in a previous chapter, 
given a few suggestions of a 
practical nature on general work for 
the pastor and evangelist, we now beg 
to give some instructions as to personal 
work, with a selection of appropriate 
scriptures; thus making this a complete 
guide to Christian work before, in, and 
after the meeting. 

As different rules of syntax apply 
to different parts of speech, so different 
passages of scripture apply to different 
phases of belief, and each subject should 
be treated according to the class to 
which it belongs. These classes may 
be denominated as follows: 1. Back- 


157 




158 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


sliders. 2. Christians out of duty. 
3. Secret Christians. 4. Penitent 
sinners. 5. Thoughtful persons. 
6. Indifferent persons. 7. Skeptics. 
8. Infidels. 9. Moralists. 10. Uni- 
versalists. Perhaps nine hundred and 
ninety-nine persons out of every thou¬ 
sand will be found on inquiry to be¬ 
long to one of these classes. Hence, 
the first thing of importance is a proper 
diagnosis of the case; find out to which 
of these classes your subject belongs, 
and with this book in hand, apply the 
following remedies, as the nature of the 
case and the direction of the Holy 
Spirit may seem to demand, allowing 
perfect liberty for spiritual oversight, 
individual peculiarities, and sound prac¬ 
tical common sense. Now, beginning 
with the first class, the backslider, we 
notice, first, who he is, and second, how 
he may be reclaimed. First, he is one 
who has receded from his former faith; 
show him how God looks on his pres¬ 
ent position from the following pas¬ 
sages of Scripture: 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 159 


“And Jesus said unto him, No man, ivukeix. 62 . 
having put his hand to the plough, and 
looking back, is fit for the kingdom of 
God.” 

“Thine own wickedness shall cor-Jer ii-i9- 
rect thee, and thy backslidings shall 
reprove thee: know therefore and see 
that it is an evil thing and bitter, that 
thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God.” 

“If any man draw back my soul Heb. x. :i8-39. 
shall have no pleasure in him. But we 
are not of them who draw back unto 
perdition; but of them that believe to 
the saving of the soul.” 

Exhort him to return unto the Instruc t i o n s 

, to worker. 

Lord, and quote the following prom¬ 
ises for his encouragement: 

“Return, ye backsliding children, jer.iii. 22 . 
and I will heal your backslidings. Be¬ 
hold we come unto thee; for thou art 
the Lord our God.” 

“Draw nigh to God, and he will James iv. 8. 
draw nigh to you.” 

“Then shall we know, if we follow Hosea vi. 3. 
on to know the Lord.” 

Get him to try again, to make a 



160 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


new start; show him from the follow¬ 
ing scriptures, that God will help him: 

“There be more with us than with 
him: With him is an arm of flesh; but 
with us is the Lord our God to help 
us, and to fight our battles/’ 
ps^aimsxxxvii “The Lord shall help them, and de¬ 
liver them * * from the wicked, and 
save them, because they trust in him.” 
Phil. iii. 13-14. “But this one thing I do, forgetting 
those things which are behind, and 
reaching forth unto those things which 
are before, I press toward the mark for 
the prize of the high calling of God in 
Christ Jesus.” 

Deut.xxxii.ii. “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, 
fluttereth over her young, spreadeth 
abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth 
them on her wings: so the Lord alone 
did lead him.” 

Now try to show your subject that 
as the mother eagle helps the weak or 
crippled and falling ones along, so the 
Lord will help him. Urge upon him 
the importance of making another 
effort; get him to trust the Lord and 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 161 


publicly declare his intention of living 
a Christian life. Remember James 
says: 

^‘Brethren, if any af you do err from James v. lo, 20 . 
the truth, and one convert him; let him 
know, that he which converteth the 
sinner from the error of his way shall 
save a soul from death, and shall hide a 
multitude of sins.” 

Christians out of duty. The first class 2 . 
one to which we call attention is the 
one living in disobedience. He has 
been converted and has confessed 
Christ, but gone no farther. Show him 
his duty from the following scriptures: 

“And Jesus, when he was baptized. Matt. iii. le. 
went up straightway out of the water.” 

“Then they that gladly received his Acts ii. 41. 
word were baptized; and the same day 
there were added unto them about three 
thousand souls.” 

Here we have the example of Christ, 
the practice of the apostles, and obe¬ 
dience of believers to guide us in teach¬ 
ing others the first step in the path of 
Christian duty. 



162 instructions for personal work. 


The second one to which we call 
attention is one who for some cause 
has lost his membership and is living 
outside the pale of the church. Ask 
him if he believes the church a good 
institution; if he would like to live in 
a country where there were no churches. 
If he says no, then show him that it 
is not right for him to set an example 
which, if followed by all who have the 
same right, would destroy the church 
and defeat the purposes of God as shown 
in its institution. Show him the im¬ 
portance of entire separation from the 
world by the following scriptures: 

1^- ‘‘Be ye not unequally yoked to¬ 
gether with unbelievers: for what fel¬ 
lowship hath righteousness with un¬ 
righteousness? and what communion 
hath light with darkness? and what 
concord hath Christ with Belial? or 
what part hath he that believeth with 
an infidel? and what agreement hath 
the temple of God with idols? for ye 
are the temple of the living God; as 
God hath said, * * and they shall be my 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 163 


people. Wherefore, come out from 
among them, and be ye separate, saith 
the Lord, and touch not the unclean 
thing; and I will receive you, and will 
be a Father unto you, and ye shall be 
my sons and daughters, saith the Lord 
Almighty.^’ 

“And I heard a voice from heaven, Rev. xvm.4. 
saying. Come out of her, my people, that 
3 ^e be not partakers of her sins, and 
that ye receive not of her iniquities.” 

“They are not of the world, even as John xvii. le. 
I am not of the world.” 

It seems to me that with these pas¬ 
sages of Scripture at hand—the last 
one being the very voice of the Savior 
himself—it ought not be a difficult 
task to show a Christian that his place 
is in the fold, and that he should at 
once return to his Father’s house and 
stop feeding swine for the devil at star¬ 
vation wages. My brother, the Mas¬ 
ter calleth for thee; His grace and His 
mercy are wondrously free. Oh, then, 
let me importune you to come home; 

3^011 need the church and the cause 



164 instructions for personal work. 


needs you. Some one may be lost by 
your delay; then come this very day. 
Class 3. The secret Christian. By this we 

mean one who believes and has not 
confessed; one who loves, but does not 
obey; one who serves God in such a 
way that Satan gets all the results. 
That such should not be the case, we 
readily agree; but that such cases exist, 
we have to admit. Major W. E. Penn, 
the evangelist, tells of a lady at Leav¬ 
enworth, Kansas, who was the mother 
of several children; she had been a se- 
'*‘uaT‘'^^"‘''cret Christian since she was fourteen 
3 ^ears old, and after waiting for her hus¬ 
band for several years, finally confessed 
Christ one day in the meetings, her 
husband following the next day. I 
knew a man by the name of Shelton, in 
^butTchiK Virginia, who was regarded as a moral 
man and a good citizen. For five or 
six years I preached to him as a sinner) 
my deacons always getting him a seat 
near the stand and often suggesting 
that I do my best to reach Mr. Shelton. 
So, after many trials and as many de- 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WOKK. 165 


feats, the old gentleman confessed in 
my presence to having been a Chris¬ 
tian for forty 3 ^ears. 

Rev. J. E. Hntson, a noted evangel¬ 
ist of Richmond, tells of an old and 
honored physician, who, after confess¬ 
ing Christ, said: “Mr. Hutson, I have 
been standing in the road for forty 
years, wanting to be a Christian; all I 
had to do was to draw the lines and 
ride into the kingdom.” Surely we 
only need to give the above examples 
as evidence of the fact that many well- 
meaning people are hiding, not only 
their own light under a bushel, but the 
light of the Holy Spirit, which other¬ 
wise would be manifested in them. 
No wonder the apostle Paul exhorted 
the Thessalonians (5:19) to “quench 
not the Spirit.” If the truth could 
only be known, there are to-day thou¬ 
sands who are regarded as moralists, 
and looked upon as foreigners and 
strangers to the commonwealth of Is¬ 
rael, who have years ago repented of 
their sins and are at all times indulg- 



166 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


ing a hope deep down in their hearts 
for which they would not take the 
world. Many of them would die at the 
stake before they would surrender their 
faith in Christ, yet, on account of de- 

^locaY'Tradf- fcctive educatiou and local traditions, 
they stand at the very gate of the 
Lord’s vineyard all their lives, losing 
the joy of service, robbing the church 
and the cause of their influence. Let 
such persons read and obey the in¬ 
structions contained in the following 
scriptures: 

I. Peter iii. 15 . “But sauctify the Lord God in your 
hearts: and be ready always to give an 
answer to every man that asketh you a 
reason of the hope that is in you with 
meekness and fear.” 

ps^aimsixxviii. “He established a testimony in Ja¬ 
cob, and appointed a law in Israel, 
which he commanded our fathers, that 
they should make them known to 
their children: * * that they might set 
their hope in God, and not forget the 
works of God, but keep his command¬ 
ments.” 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 167 


“But tliou, O man of God, flee these 
things; and follow after righteousness, 
Godliness, faith, love, patience, meek¬ 
ness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay 
hold on eternal life, whereunto thou 
art also called, and hast made a good 
profession before many witnesses. I 
give thee charge in the sight of God, 
who quickeneth all things, and before 
Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate 
witnessed a good confession.” 

Let us remember that the only case 
which the Jews could make out against 
our Savior on which to take his life 
was his own confession, and for this, so 
far as human evidence was concerned, 
he forfeited his life. Then remember, 
my brother. He has said: “If any man i.uke ix ae. 
will come after me, let him deny him¬ 
self, and take up his cross daily, and 
follow me.” Now for the sake of your 
own usefulness, the salvation of those 
over whom you exert an influence, and 
the glory of Him through whose bene¬ 
factions you have a little hope, though 
it be as a bruised reed and the smok- 



168 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


ing flax, won^t you draw the lines and 
ride into the kingdom, break the old 
ship loose .from its rocky fastenings 
and launch out on the great ocean of 
God’s love this very day? Brighter 
heavens will bend above you, happy 
friends will gather around you. True, 
there will be some cloudy days, but 
even then you can sing: 

“All the storms will soon be over, 

And we’ll anchor in the harbor. 

We are out on the ocean sailing 
To a home beyond the tide.” 

Class 4. The penitent sinner is a person so 

grieved on account of former sins that 
he is earnestly seeking the forgiveness 
of God and greatly desiring to obtain 
the divine favor, as expressed in a 
conscience peace, which inspires hope, 
energizes effort, and directs faith. 

The first point to impress on his 
mind is the importance of getting his 
own consent. Having urged this point, 
call his attention to the following pas¬ 
sages of Scripture: 

L^e xiv. 28- <‘For which of you intending to 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSON\U WORK. 169 


build a tower, sitteth not down first, 
and counteth the cost, whether he have 
sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after 
he hath laid the foundation, and is not 
able to finish it, all that behold it be¬ 
gin to mock him, saying. This man 
began to build, and was not able to 
finish.” 

“If ye continue in my word, then John vm. 31,32. 
are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall 
know the truth, and the truth shall 
make you free.” 

Finding that your subject has gotten 
his full consent to give up the old life 
of sin and live a new and godly life, 
you want now to impress on his mind 
the importance of asking for pardon, 
quoting to him the following scriptures: 

“But if from thence thou shalt seek ^eut. iv. 29-31. 
the Lord thy God, thou shalt find him, 
if thou seek him with all thy heart and 
with all thy soul. * * If* thou turn to 
the Lord thy God, and shalt be obedi¬ 
ent unto his voice, * he will not for¬ 
sake thee, neither destroy thee.” 

Have your man humble himself by 



170 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


kneeling with you in prayer. You 
lead, then get him to pray. You may 
have him repeat the publican^s prayer, 
as directed in another part of this work; 
then read to him the following prom¬ 
ise for his encouragement: 

Romans X. 13 . “For whosoever shall call upon the 

name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Impress on his mind the importance 
of being in earnest; urge upon him the 
importance of believing God; quote: 
johniii.16. ‘‘For God so loved the world, that 
he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not 
perish, but have everlasting life.’^ 
Show him what to believe; quote: 
Romans x. 9 . “That if thou shalt confess with thy 

mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe 
in thine heart that God hath raised him 
from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” 
Isaiah xii. 2. “Behold, God is my salvation; I 
will trust, and not be afraid: for the 
Lord Jehovah is my strength and my 
song; he also has become my salvation.” 
^fJrwoUe/.^ I have a Savior, (d) He is able 

to save me. (c) Therefore, I am not 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 171 


afraid to depend on him. (d) Hence contentment. 
I rejoice. 

We trust our friends in business, Repeat this 

The partners of our homes; 

We sow the seed in autumn, 

In spring the harvest comes. 

Then why not trust in Jesus? 

He will take you for His care. 

Will drive your sorrows from you 
And all your burdens bear.— Dillard. 

Show him this is the last and only 
resort; that it is trust Jesus or perish- 
therefore he can not be worsted; that 
in so doing he has all to gain and noth¬ 
ing to lose; quote: 

‘^Though he slay me, yet will ljobx:ii.i5. 
trust in him.” 

If your man is in earnest and deeply 
convicted, and you have carried out 
these instructions, not in the letter, 
not mechanically, but in the spirit, and 
have lovingly led him over these high¬ 
ways of truth, he ought to be enabled, 
by the time you have finished this in¬ 
struction, to trust Christ; and might 
reasonably be expected, under the mov¬ 
ing power of the Holy Spirit and the 



172 instructions for personal work. 


direction of divine truth, as recorded 
in the following words of the Savior 
himself, to confess his faith publicly: 

Matt. X. 32 . ^‘Whosoever therefore shall confess 
me before men, him will I confess also 
before my Father which is in heaven.’^ 
In becoming a Christian {d) we get 
our own consent by decision; {b) we 
secure or appropriate the promises of 
God by faith; (c) we are established by 
trust, (d) and recognized in confession. 
As Christians, we are incorporated in 
baptism, instructed by the commands 
of Christ, and directed b}^ the Holy 
Spirit. Included in the prayer of 
Christ and kept by the power of God 
through faith unto salvation, the 
veracity of God completes our assur¬ 
ance, and the length of life is the dis¬ 
tance to glory. As the signboard is 
the guide by which we walk out our 
journey, so the Bible is the rule by 
which we work out our salvation.’^ 
Sing the following song, found in No. 
6 Gospel Hymns, No. 10: 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 173 


“O wonderful words of the gospel! 

O wonderful message they bring! 

Proclaiming a blessed redemption 
Through Jesus, our Savior and King. 

Chorus. 

“Believe, oh believe in His mercy, 

That flows like a fountain so free; 

Believe and receive a redemption 
He offers to you and to me. 

“He came from the throne of His glory, 

And left the bright mansions above. 

The world to redeem from its bondage. 

So great His compassion and love. 

“O come to this wonderful Savior, 

Come weary and sorrow oppres.sed; 

Behold on the cross how He suffered. 

That you in His kingdom might rest. 

“There’s no other refuge but Jesus, 

No shelter where lost ones may fly; 

And now while He is tenderly calling, 

O turn ye, for why will ye die?” 

Thoughtful persons. The thought- class 5. 
ful or considerate individual is a hope¬ 
ful subject, and has started right; lead 
him on by the following scriptures: 

“Come, now, let us reason together, isaiak l is. 
saith the Lord: though your sins be as 



174 instructions for personal work. 


scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; 
though they be red like crimson, they 
shall be as wool.” 

t. Samuelxii.4 ^‘Ouly fear the Lord, and serve him 
in truth with all your heart: for con¬ 
sider how great things he hath done 
for you.” 

Romansxvii.4. ^‘The gooduoss of God leadeth thee 
to repentance.” 

Call his attention to the fact that he 
is a sinner, that the wise and safe thing 
to do is to turn to God. Call his atten¬ 
tion to the advantages of the occasion, 
offer your assistance by way of instruc¬ 
tion and prayer. Here you will have 
to appeal to your own enlightened 
judgment. Do not press the matter too 
far, lest you drive him away. Secure 
from him a promise that he will read a 
selection of Scripture and pray for 
himself in secret before retiring at 
night. Give him either of the follow¬ 
ing scriptures: 

Isaiahi. 2 - 0 . “Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O 

earth: for the Lord hath spoken, I have 
nourished and brought up children, and 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 175 


they have rebelled against me. The 
ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his 
master’s crib: but Israel doth not know, 
my people doth not consider. Ah sin¬ 
ful nation,a people laden with iniquity, 
a seed of evildoers, children that are 
corrupters: they have forsaken the 
Lord, they have provoked the Holy 
One of Israel unto anger, they are gone 
away backward. Why should ye be 
stricken any more? ye wdll revolt more 
and more: the whole head is sick, and 
the whole heart is faint. From the 
sole of the foot even unto the head 
there is no soundness in it; but wounds, 
and bruises, putrefyingsores: they have 
not been closed, neither bound up, 
neither mollified with ointment. * * 

Wash you, mako you clean: put away isaiah i. 
the evil of your doings from before 
mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do 
well; seek judgment, relieve the op¬ 
pressed, judge the fatherless, plead for 
the widow. Come now, and let us rea¬ 
son together, saith the Lord: though 
your sins be as scarlet, they shall be 



176 instructions for personal work. 


as white as snow; though they be red 
like crimson, they shall be as wool. If 
ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat 
the good of the land.” 

If the person is young, give him the 
following: 

“Rejoice, O young man, in thy 
youth, and walk in the ways of thine 
heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; 
but know thou, that for all these things 
God wdll bring thee into judgment. 
Therefore remove sorrow from thy 
heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: 
for childhood and youth are vanity.” 

13 ^ 14 ^^ “Remember now thy Creator in the 
days of thy youth, while the evil days 
come not, nor the years draw nigh, 
when thou shalt say, I have no pleas¬ 
ure in them. * * Let us hear the con¬ 
clusion of the whole matter: Fear God, 
and keep his commandments; for this 
is the whole duty of man. For God 
shall bring every work into judgment, 
with every secret thing, whether it be 
good, or whether it be evil.” 

“And I saw the dead, small and greats 


Rev. arx. 12-14. 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 177 


Stand before God; and the books were 
opened: and another book was opened, 
which is the book of life: and the dead 
were judged out of those things which 
were written in the books, according 
to their works. And the sea gave up 
the dead which were in it; and death 
and hell delivered up the dead which 
were in them: and they were judged 
everymanaccording to their works. * 

And whosoever was not found written 
in the book of life was cast into the 
lake of fire.” 

To the disciples Jesus said: 

^‘Rejoice, because your names areLnko.20. 
written in heaven.” 

So, my dear thoughtful one, after 
having read these warnings and had 
the offered prayers and instructions of 
those who love you, won’t you decide 
like old General Joshua, to serve God? 

Let others do as they will, and never 
rest a day until you can sing, 

“My name is written there on the page bright 

and fair, 



178 instructions for pfrsonau work. 


Instruction to 
fforker. 


Rrek. xxxiii. 
&- 11 . 


Ill the book of thy kingdom; yes, my name’s 

written there.” 

If he seem considerably impressed, 
give Him the following lesson and urge 
him to read it over and over again: 

“When I say unto the wkked, O 
wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if 
thou dost not speak to warn the wicked 
from his way, that wdcked man shall 
die in his iniquity; but his blood will 
I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, 
if thou warn the wicked of his way, to 
turn from it; if he do not turn from 
his way, he shall die in his iniquity; 
but thou hast delivered thy soul. There¬ 
fore, O thou son of man, speak unto 
the house of Israel: Thus ye speak, 
saying, If our transgressions and our 
sins be upon us, and we pine away in 
them, how shall we then live? Say 
unto them. As I live, saith the Lord 
God, I have no pleasure in the death 
of the wicked; but that the wicked turn 
from his way and live: turn ye, turn 
ye from your evil ways; for why will 
ye die?” 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 179 


‘‘Prepare to meet tliy God.” Amos w. 12. 

“Seek tke Lord, and ye shall live, \mosv.6-8. 

^ Seek him that maketh the seven 
stars and Orion, and turneth the 
shadow of death into the morning, and 
maketh the day dark with night: that 
calleth for the waters of the sea, and 
poureth them ont upon the face of the 
earth: The Lord is his name.” 

“Seek ye the Lord while he may bei«aiaiiiv.6,7. 
found, call ye upon him while he is 
near: let the wicked forsake his way, 
and the unrighteous man his thoughts: 
and let him return unto the Lord, and 
he will have mercy upon him; and to 
our God, for he will abundantly pardon. ” 

“Seek, and ye shall find; knock, Matt. vii.7,8. 
and it shall be opened unto you: for 
every one that asketh receiveth; and 
he that seeketh findeth; and to him 
that knocketh it shall be opened.” 

If by this timeyour man is penitent, worken”^ 
then use the instructions given under 
that head found a few pages back. Be 
prayerful yourself and do not become 
discouraged. Remember, “They that 



ISO INSTRUCTIONS FOR PKRSONAU WORK, 


SOW in tears shall reap in joy”; ‘‘He 
that goeth forth and weepeth shall re¬ 
turn again with rejoicing.” 

This brings us to consider the in¬ 
different. Paul said, ‘‘being crafty, I 
caught you with guile.” The disciples 
toiled all night and caught nothing 
until the command came to let down 
the net on the right side of the ship. 
So we must not only be crafty, but fish 
on the right side. Perhaps in no voca¬ 
tion or business, where individual af¬ 
fects individual, is a demand for a prac¬ 
tical knowledge of human nature so 
imperative as in meeting the sinner 
without any knowledge of his habits, 
his education, his belief, or character. 
In this work too much stress cannot 
be laid on tact. It is said that Mr. 
Spurgeon once won a man to Christ by 
calling out in a vacant factory at the 
top of his voice, “Behold the Lamb of 
God which taketh away the sin of the 
world.” I believe it was Mr. Whitfield 
who said to the robber: “You have taken 
my purse, but remember the blood of 




INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 181 


Jesus Christ, His son, cleanseth us 
from all sin.’^ The next time he 
preached in that place, the robber was 
among the converts. I know of a case 
where a young man, who could not be 
induced to come into the room where 
the preacher was, for prayers, but re¬ 
mained in the hall until prayers were 
over, came to a crowd who had gath¬ 
ered around the same preacher to hear 
him tell stories, which he did to the 
delight of all, and closed by saying to 
this young man: “Well, sir, when the 
devil gets you he will have a good-look- 
ing man.’^ The young man asked for 
prayer that night and was converted 
in less than a week. A lady in Illinois, 
who had prayed for her husband for 
years, but could not even get him to 
church, on going home from the meet¬ 
ing one night said: “Well, Hi, if 
you don’t go, they won’t miss 
The next night he was at church and 
was among the gathered sheaves at the 
close of the meeting. At a meeting in 
Virginia, we sent an invitation to the 



182 instructions for personal work. 


Construction ct*ew of a cotistructioii train wliich re¬ 
train. 

suited in the entire crowd professing 
conversion. Many more cases of soul¬ 
winning, in which the unconcerned 
have been reached and finally converted, 
might be given. My experience and 
observation has led me to believe there 
is little use in any regular or systematic 
instruction before there are signs of 
thoughtfulness, excepting from the 
pulpit. Whenever a person will listen 
to you with respect and pay attention, 
he may reasonably be classed as a 
thoughtful person, and treated as such. 

eagle always stirs the nest first, 
then teaches the young to fly; so any 
word or suggestion, scripture, song, or 
prayer, which will create a desire on 
the part of the unconverted to be saved, 
will be like a nail driven in a sure 
place. But, remember, in this case zeal 
must be wisely directed, lest you cast 
bcforc swiuc. The wise hus¬ 
bandman surveys his field and reaps 
when the grain is ripe; so the earnest 
worker only needs to raise up his eyes 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 183 


and behold the fields already ripe for 
the harvest. As a rule, when the 
thoughtful become penitent the indif¬ 
ferent will become thoughtful. So 
while the ripe sheaves are being har¬ 
vested, the field will continue to ripen 
until a great work is accomplished and 
the angels shall join in the shout of 
harvest home. 

“Move forward, reaping as ye move; 

Angels are watching from above; 

Around are witnesses a host— 

Arouse you now and save the lost.” 

The skeptic is an investigator; hexhet^puc. 
may be on the extreme of this position: 
like Thomas, almost an infidel, or, like 
Agrippa, claim to be almost a Chris¬ 
tian. In either case he can be reached 
and won to Christ by the proper proc¬ 
ess of reasoning, the grace of God, and 
the influence of the Holy Spirit. (^) w^rken”* 

Settle with him the humanity of Christ. 

Refer him to the fact that no one 
denies now or has ever denied the essen¬ 
tial facts connected with His life as a 
man, and further that many infidels. 



184 INSTRUCTIOXS FOR PERSONAL, WJRK. 


Matt. xxvi. 15. 


Matt, xxvii. 7- 


skeptics, and agnostics Have professed to 
admire Him as a man. Ingersoll says: 
‘^As for the man Jesus, let me say once 
and for .all, I have for him the pro- 
foundest regard. He was a reformer 
in his day and died a martyr to his 
cause.” Then read to him the follow¬ 
ing description of His betrayal, trial, 
and death: 

“They covenanted with Judas for 
thirty pieces of silver.” 

“They bought with them the pot- 
ter^s field. * * Wherefore that field 
was called. The field of blood, unto this 
day.” 

The treatment he received while on 
trial: 

‘Then did they spit in his face, and 
buffeted him; and others smote him 
with the palms of their hands.” 

^ Pilate scourged Jesus, and delivered 
him to be crucified. 

“They gave him vinegar to drink 
mingled with gall.” 

Markxv.24-27. “Aiid wheu they had crucified him, 
they parted his garments, casting lots 


Matt. xxvi. 67. 


Matt, xxvii. 34. 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK, 185 


Upon them, what every man should 
take. * ^ And with him they crucify 
two thieves; the one on his right hand, 
andthe other on his left.’’ 

Joseph of Arimathaea, an honorable nf/burraL’^' 
counsellor, craved the body of Jesus. 

Pilate gave the body to Joseph. Jq. ’cxvu.dt- 
seph was a rich man, so he “laid it in his 
own new tomb, which he had hewn out 
in the rock.” 

“He is not here: for he has risen, Mau^x^tiirs. 
as he said.” 

“While they beheld, he was taken Ascension, 
up; and a cloud received him out of 
their sight.” 

“Behold, I see the heavens opened, 56. 
and the Son of man standing on the 
right hand of .God.” 

Now settle with him the time of instructions 
Isaiah, the authorship of his prophecy. 

This can be done by appealing to the 
Encyclopaedia Britannica. As to him 
being the author of his prophecy cov¬ 
ering that which relates to Christ, that 
is not denied, and you may confidently 
appeal to any book on higher criticism; 




186 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


but I would commend Washington Glad- 
den^s “Who wrote the Bible?’^ Having 
^is^aiah?"^ ^ ^ settled the fact of the prophet’s exist- 
live? ence, his authorship oi the prophecies 

What did he ^ . , . . r 

Ha'J^^u^been to Christ, then read the foliow- 

fuifiiied? ijjg quotations and compare with the 
quotations already made from the New 
Testament; then settle with him the 
question of time intervening between 
the prediction and the fulfillment. 
This you will find to be about seven 
and a half centuries. Then ask him 
to produce a parallel case from all the 
^bJ^exp^iaiied? annals of hlstory, to either explain on 
principles of natural phenomena how 
this was done, and then tell why no 
one else ever did such a thing. Or 
accept the inevitable conclusion, 
yea, the only rational and logical one, 
to-wit: that the great God, who fore¬ 
knows all things, had this all planned 
out in His own councils of divine wis¬ 
dom and mercy. Then, if he admits 
your position, which he is bound to do, 
preach Jesus to him, as Philip did 
to the eunuch. Treat him as you 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSON AT WORK. 187 


would the considerate man under class 
five. If penitent, treat him as directed 
under class four, and by the help of the 
Lord you will win a soul and gain a 
star which shall cause you to shine in ^*"8^ 
the kingdom of your God forever and 
ever. This brings us to notice the 
predictions made concerning Christ, 
none of which can be brought nearer 
than seven hundred years, and even 
though it could be brought to seven 
hundred minutes, the predictions are 
so perfectly fulfilled and so well authen- 
ticated that no reasonable man can fail 
to see that it is neither the effects of 
reason, results of forces, or the fruits of 
a fertile imagination. As the face of 
the sphinx has looked for ages across 
the valley of the Nile to see the birth 
of nations and the death of empires, 
so the finger of divine wisdom for four 
thousand years has pointed across the 
sands of time to the mountain at the 
city of David, on which was to be en¬ 
acted the greatest tragedy of the ages, 
culminating in the assassination of the 



188 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


world’s Redeemer. But as flowers fade 
in autumn to bloom in spring, so 
He died to live again, and tbe Victim of 
the grave is the Monarch of the skies. 
And these predictions, like the mag¬ 
netic needle, are left balanced on the 
center of history to direct the genera¬ 
tions yet unborn to the mountain of 
the Lord. Electrified by the love of 
the Father, and sanctified by the blood 
of atonement, so let us see the index 
finger of the divine plan as revealed in 
the following passages; then compare 
these with those already given, and the 
evidence is complete, upon which we 
are perfectly willing to rest our case 
and that of the cause we represent. 
Now^ for the concluding evidence, then 
the verdict: 

trayed. “And I said unto them. If ye think 

Matt. xxvi. 15. good, give me my price; and if not, for¬ 
bear. So they weighed for my price 
thirty pieces of silver.” 

M?tu'’xxvii. ^‘And I took the thirty pieces of 
silver, and cast them to the potter in 
the house of the Lord.” 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 189 


gave my back to the smiters, and SaJh l' e. 
my cheeks to them that plucked off the 
hair: I hid not my face from shame 
and spitting.” 

“They shall smite the judge of Is-MLrkxvhg. 
rael with a rod upon the cheek.” 

“He was numbered with the trans-^ cross.°“ 
gressors; and he bare the sin of many, Mark xv. 27. 
and made intercession for the trans¬ 
gressors.” 

“And he made his grave with the 
wicked, and with the rich in his death; 
because he had done no violence, 
neither was any deceit in his mouth.” 

“They part my garments among 
them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” Mark 

“Thou wilt not leave my soul in psIimVil^io. 
hell; neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy ^ 

One to see corruption.” 

“Thou hast ascended on high, thou "xSi!; 
hast led captivity captive; thou hast Acts 1 . 9 - 11 . 
received gifts for men; yea, for the re¬ 
bellious also, that the Lord God might 
dwell among them.” 

Finally, asking, on the part of the 
skeptic, an honest and manly invest!- 



190 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


a vcrdict whicli shall decree 
to the Lord in this controversy, His 
own property, purchased not with cor¬ 
ruptible things as of silver and gold, 
but with the precious blood of His Son, 
to-wit, the soul and body of the skep¬ 
tic. We now pass on to the consider¬ 
ation of the next class, to-wit; the in¬ 
fidel. 

liSieis dealing with infidels, always al¬ 

low them to state their case first. If 
in the sermon, state their position 
fairly, then set your position by 
theirs. So, whether in pulpit or pew, 
with the individual in private or be¬ 
fore a multitude in public, you need 
not argue the question. Admit his 
position to be true for the sake of com- 

^ moireason-then show him that the Chris- 
awe then in- positiou is more reasonable. He 
admits a creative intelligence. John 
Stuart Mill says (as quoted by his 
disciple, Thomas C. Lewis): “In the 
formation of matter there has ever 
been a presiding power which com¬ 
mands our admiration, and is a proper 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 191 


subject of worship.” As the infidel 
generally lays claim to more knowl¬ 
edge than any one else in his diocese, 
show him that it is neither reasonable 
nor natural for two such wise beings as 
the creative spirit and the controlling 
power of matter, as expressed in Milhs 
philosophy and his intelligence, to live 
together for millions of years and 
neither speak the one to the other nor'^bie.““®‘^*^’ 
gravitate together; that it is against 
the laws of mind and matter, because 
mind answers to mind and matter at-at¬ 
tracts matter—the smaller bodies always 
gravitating to the larger ones—so, in¬ 
asmuch as God never spoke to man ac¬ 
cording to his theory, nor man to God 
according to his practice, therefore his 
faith and practice is contrary to the 
physical laws which govern both mind 
and matter; hence, unnatural and un¬ 
reasonable. But the Christian in his'^J-Jn^g aJyel- 
conduct, being the weaker or smaller nKa”^ 
body gravitates towards God; hence 
his position is natural. In his theory 
of inspiration, as expressed by his 



192 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


faith, and his communion with the 
Supreme Intelligence through the 
channel of prayer, he is reasonable. 

Show him, in the next place, that if 
the Bible is false, as he claims it to be, 
that belief of the falsehoods and non¬ 
sense therein contained has rolled for- 
^r?isroifiLg ward the wheels of progress until the 
■ descendants of the wild and savage Gal¬ 
lic tribes, with Bible in hand, stand to¬ 
day at the head of the column in the 
world’s progressive march; that no 
one has ever claimed to have been 
damaged by its faith or degraded by its 
practice, as expressed in the two 
supreme commands, which compose 
the grand center around which the 
whole system revolves, to-wit: Thou 
shalt love the Lord thy God with all 
thy heart, mind, soul, and strength; 
and thy neighbor as thyself. Ask 
him how many he knows who have 
been degraded—yea, ruined—by not do¬ 
ing this. Hence he is advocating that 
which, if believed, cannot benefit any 
one, even though it be true, and if 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 198 


practiced, will strike the death-blow at 
the one great law of affinity which 
should bind together the whole family ^unioiun thi 
of man. Again demand of him to pro- m\n.' ^ 
duce a single case where his unbelief 
has benefited any one. Show him 
where yours has. He denies your 
heaven. Ask him for his. He says 
we die like brutes and that is the end. 

Ask him, if this be true, wouldn’t it be men!" ' ^ 
better to live like men, even though we 
die like brutes. If he says it is all 
foolishness to him, then use him as a 
witness against himself and in favor of 
the inspiration of the Scriptures by 
reading the following: 

‘‘But the natural man receiveth 

A diagno««is of 

not the things of the Spirit of God, for 
they are foolishness unto him: tieither 
can he know them, because they are 
spiritually discerned.” 

If he becomes combative and says 
there is nothing in religion; that knows noth- 
Christian life is a failure, experience 
deceptive, and conversion a myth; if 
he laughs at the love of God, ridicules 



194 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


Jesus, and scorns the idea of the Spirit’s 
existence, then let him become your 
teacher, and ply him with the follow¬ 
ing questions: 

Question 1 . Since you reject the Bible, what do 
you know about Jesus, and where did 
you get your information? 

Question 2. Ask him if he has any knowledge 

of the work of the Holy Spirit? 

Question 3. Do you know anything of the love 

of God in your heart, or do you love 
God? 

Question 4. Have you ever been converted or 

regenerated? 

Questions. Have your sins been forgiven or 
have you any religious experience? 

Question 6. Have you lived or tried to live a 

Christian life, or have you had any 
Christian experience? 

All of these he is compelled to an¬ 
swer in the negative or surrender his 
position. 

^cussed. In answer to question first, if he 

says he gets his information from the 
Bible, ask him what right he has to 
try and condemn a man or a doctrine 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 195 


on evidence which he does not accept 
or believe. If he claims to have gotten 
it from any other source, then ask 
him to produce his authority or admit 
his ignorance. 

Under question second, if he says ^cussed. 
he has never had any knowledge of the 
Spirit’s work, and does not believe there 
is such a thing, except in imagination 
on the part of others, then say to him: 

suppose if you haven’t a bank of 
your own, then none exist except in 
imagination, and every person who 
does business through banks is de¬ 
luded?’’ 

In answer to question third, if 
says, ^‘I never loved God, and there is no 
God to love me,” say: ^^Then if you 
never loved Caesar’s wife, then Caesar 
never did; hence there was no such 
man as Caesar.” 

In answer to question four, if he^cSS"^"^'*’ 
says he has never been converted and 
does not believe any one else has, ask 
him whose evidence would be taken in 
court, a child who claims to know, or. 



196 instructions for personal work. 


a philosopher that doesn^t claim to 
know, and if he doesn’t know anything 
about the case, how does he know the 
child does not? 

To question fifth, if he admits that 
he has no experience of sins forgiven, 
then say to him that a man who has 
never studied grammar a day in his life 
would be a poor hand to correct the 
rules of syntax, and that a blind man 
is a poor critic and a terrible failure on 
the selection of colors. If he says he 
has never tried to live a Christian life, 
ought to be ashamed 
marto^iton of himself to. sit on the fence and find 
fault with those who are at work when 
he has never worked a day in his life. 
If he says, “I tried once and failed, so I 
know from experience there is nothing 
in religion,” then say to him: ^^I sup¬ 
pose, if you fish a while and catch noth¬ 
ing, then you conclude there are no fish, 
and that all that has been written on 
Great waste, fjsli aud all that has been expended o*n 
the fishingbusiness is thrown away; that 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 197 


sinQc one man has failed in business, 
every other man should stop.” 

In conclusion, show' him if he is 
right, you are his equal, and that, while 
you travel over different roads through 
life, you wdll go on the same bridge at ®bdigl. 
the dark river, with all the scenery and 
association on your road to your advant¬ 
age. Nothing to lose. That as you 
have nothing to lose if he is right, so he 
has nothing to gain by his position, and 
cannot possibly lose by stepping over to 
yours, even though you be wrong and he 
right; that, on the other hand, should it 
turnout after all that you are right and 
he wrong, then you have all to gain and ^aiuf 
he all to lose. Then ask him would 
he invest money where there is no 
chance to gain, but to lose; would he 
take medicine when there was in it the 
probability of death, but none to cure; 
would he take his chances on a danger¬ 
ous bridge when there is a safe one ^ 

hand? Ask him if his twelve-year-old 
daughter were in his lap for the last'^chiu'^^'"^ 
time, which would he rather have her 



198 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


talk about, the mistakes of Moses or 
the love of Jesus? Would he tell lier 
to believe in her father’s infidelity or 
in her mother’s God? Would he make 
sport of religion or think infidelity 
In the .water; overboard with the ship leaving him to 
the mercy of the waves and a burial 
alive in the sea? 

By this time he is either a hardened 
^snouta'poor swine, before whom Jesus forbids the 
casting of pearls, or he is a thoughtful, 
perhaps a penitent, sinner. In either 
case, treat him under the instruction 
given for the class to which he belongs. 
Remember if he is honest in his preten- 
%’^ti?nce.‘'"‘^ sions, that he deserves great sympathy 
and much patience, as all his former 
utterances and companions are against 
him,allhisreadingandhabitsofthought, 
as well as actions, are standing like a 
mountain between him and the blessed 
Saviour. Do not be afraid of him. 
He is a poor lost sinner, blinded by the 
god of this world. Perhaps this book 
in your hands will be the.clay with 
which the great physician will anoint 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 199 


his eyes. Do not become discouraged; 
he may have to “see men as trees walk¬ 
ing’^ a long time before he can see 
clearly. You may have to get some one 
to help you. Remember a long time 
ago four men brought one to Jesus. 

“Sow in the morn thy seed, sow aii day. 

At eve hold not thy hand; 

To doubt and fear give thou no heed; 

Broadcast it o’er the land. 

Thou canst not toil in vain; 

Cold and heat, moist and dry. 

Will foster and mature the grain 
For garners in the sky.” 

The same argument used under the Note, 
seventh class will be of service in con¬ 
vincing the infidel, and may be used 
as a stepping-stone from infidelity to 
thoughtfulness, thence to penitence 
and to faith. This is a splendid ladder 
on which to take your man up on the 
house-top that you may let him down 
at the feet of the Master. 

The moralist. In dealing with a class s. 
moralist, first be sure you have a mor¬ 
alist, as perhaps there is more hypoc¬ 
risy among make-believe moralists 



200 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


than any other class of sinners. In¬ 
stead of picking the black sheep out of 
flock, in this case the white have to be 
taken from among the black. 

When you are sure you have a white 
sheep, do not try to convince him he is 
black, because he knows what he is. 
There is neither common sense, wis¬ 
dom, nor scripture in trying to make 
an honest man have a thief's repentance 
or experience. If you tell him what he 
knows isnh true, he will lose confi¬ 
dence in you and will not listen to you 
when you tell him what is true. If 
you try to get him to repent of what 
he has never done, he will perhaps try 
to do it, and as he will necessarily fail, 
he will perhaps become discouraged 
and give up the whole thing in disgust. 
In treating this subject, let us first de¬ 
fine the moralist; and second, discover 
his reasons for being such; and lastly, 
lead him to Christ. 

After a thorough investigation and 
thoughtful analysis of the subject un¬ 
der consideration, we give the follow- 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 201 


ing as what seems to us the best and 
most comprehensive definition of a 
moral man : (<2) To him the science 

of duty is the supreme law of action. 
(d) His example is a reproof to wrong, 
and a standard of right. (^) His 
actions are according to the measure 
of justice; hence will bear investiga¬ 
tion, and if found wrong, the mistake 
will be in judgment and not in in¬ 
tention, as his circumference of moral 
perception is with him the limit of 
willful action. Hence his judgment 
may be at fault, and as the result, his 
limit of action may on that account ex¬ 
ceed his ability to perform the obli¬ 
gations therein contained. Then as a 
matter of universal agreement, the 
wrong is one which involves intellect 
and not principle. The reckless person 
may be illustrated by the centrifugal 
force, which throws everything from 
the center; the selfish man by the cen¬ 
tripetal, which attracts everything to 
the center; while the moral individual 
may be said to stand at the point where 



202 instructions for personal work. 


these forces meet. He is neither a 
reckless nor a selfish man. He neither 
disregards the law. of self-preservation, 
nor dishonestly appropriates the rights 
of others to his own use. An ideal 
citizen. Oh, that we had more of 
them! He is useful in his community 
and ^n ornament to his race. He 
would make a delightful passenger 
for the old ship of Zion. Oh, let as 
get him onboard! Grant and Sherman 
found in Lee and Jackson foes worthy 
of their steel; so we find in these men 
material well worth the working. So 
let us study the case thoroughly, in 
order that we may polish and beautify 
these diamonds in the rough and make 
them fit jewels for the Master’s crown, 
and stars which shall shine in our 
own crowns forever and ever, to the 
delight of the angels and joy of the 
workers. With these remarks we now 
conclude that there must be some deep- 
seated cause or fountain of belief from 
which come such humanizing effects 
and such an even and translucent flow 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 203 


of conduct. It isn’t centrifugal, or he 
would be reckless; it isn’t centripetal, 
or he would be selfish, little-hearted, 
dwarfish, contemptible, and mean. 

That man may gasp, but never breathevS, 
Who trouble makes, but none relieves; 

A country’s blot, a nation’s blank, 

Whom none can love and none can thank. 

From such men may God deliver 
us. But as this man is neither selfish 
nor reckless, we assume that he is re¬ 
ligious. We often make a mistake in 
supposing that the religion of Christ 
is the only religion in the world, and 
that the heathen all live over the sea. 

“If you cannot cross the ocean 
And the heathen lands explore, 

You can find the heathen nearer; 

You can find them at your door.” 

As Paul said to the Grecian senate, 
we still have too much religion, at least 
too many kinds, of which this is one. 
But as it is hard to find a man so de¬ 
graded that there is no good in him, so 
however much we may regret the pres¬ 
ence of a false religion or system of be¬ 
lief, on investigation we find somehope- 



201 instructions for personal work. 


ful features and fertile soil on which to 
sow the gospel seed. In this case we 
have for our subject a man {a) of good 
character; {b) of correct habits; {c) one 
to be relied on; (d) a good reasoner; 
(e) of stability of character, and great¬ 
est of all, one disposed to do what is 
right. So we have character, habits, 
reliability, intelligence, firmness, and 
disposition, in all six parts in our 
favor, with only one against us, that 
being a mistake in which our man for 
want of proper instruction has mis¬ 
taken good citizenship for religion, or 
in other words, in trying to find the 
true he has found the false; in trying 
to live to please God, he benefits man, 
and instead of being an humble, de¬ 
pendent Christian, he is a fine speci¬ 
men of a true citizen. Christ said, 
‘‘Render to Caesar the things which are 
Caesar^s, and unto God the things 
which are God’s,thus setting forth 
the two sides of the Christian, or the 
human and divine elements in Chris¬ 
tian character. This man has tbe 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 205 


human side. Admit that and admire 
him for it. The young man who said 
to Jesus, “Good Master, what shall I do 
to inherit eternal life?’’ was not on the 
Lord’s side, yet Jesus loved him, andMarkx 
said to him, “Thou lackest one thing.” 

So these moralists are lacking in the 
divine element, and as Jesus said to 
Martha, this is the one thing needful. 

Not that the household duties were 
wrong or useless, but that they were sec¬ 
ondary. So a correct life is not a hind¬ 
rance to one becoming a Christian, but 
an ornament to faith and a power for 
good when laid on the altar of devo¬ 
tion, but if sacrificed to the Goddess of 
Liberty on the altar of Time will leave 
the devotee, naked and lost, to go as 
did the young man, not only from the 
Savior in sorrow, but from the world. 

So let us, now that we understand the 
nature of his case, try to win him to 
Christ, as he is a religionist and has a 
character backed by a good life, and a 
desire to do what is right. Let us first 
show him his mistake in faith by the 



206 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


following rule: Let your pencil and 
paper draw a perpendicular line, write 
every good thing he claims to do as he 
calls them out. 

Then begin and write opposite 
everything he requires. This will 
illustrate the idea: 

I pay my debts. I collect my debts. 

I obey the law. I enforce the law. 

Treat every one right. I expect every one to 

treat me so. 

Thus you may continue your prop¬ 
osition until the items are all iii and 
the ratio is complete. Then begin to 
read off and cross out until there is 
nothing left. Then write under his 
side citizenship and put a large 0 mark 
opposite; tell him he has nothing left 
at death but the zero mark. Ask him 
if he believes the words of the Savior, 
and when you have settled with him 
that question, read to him the following: 

Matt. V. 4r>-47. ‘‘For if ye love them which love you, 
what reward have ye? do not even the 
publicans the same? And if ye salute 
3^ourbrethren only, what do ye more than 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 207 


others? do not even the publicans so?” 

Now that you have shown him from 
his own statement, in a plain mathe¬ 
matical proposition, that the answer to 
the problem of his religion at the end 
of life will be a cipher, and further¬ 
more, that you have proven the answer 
correct by the Great Teacher, get his 
consent to allow you to show him a 
better way. Take advantage of his 
high regard for honor and submit to 
him the following for his consideration: 
“Suppose you were merchandizing in 
Paris, Mo.; you are doing business on 
borrowed capital, and have bought of 
some firm in New York city ten thou¬ 
sand dollars’ worth of goods, of another 
firm in St. Louis one hundred dollars’ 
worth, from another firm in Kansas 
City fifty dollars’ worth, and so on; but 
after a time you decide to settle up ac¬ 
counts, pay the man in St. Louis the 
hundred, the Kansas City firm their 
debt, and so on until all the debts in 
Missouri are paid; then you advertise 
the fact to the world that you are out 



208 INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 


of debt, when you are, as a matter of 
fact, using and selling the goods which 
you have gotten from the New York 
firm and have never paid them a cent. 
Don’t you know they would close you out 
and expose you as a dishonest man?” 
Then make the application. He repre¬ 
sents the moralist who renders to his 
fellow man every demand of justice. 
These creditors in his own sState repre¬ 
sent the demands of our fellows in this 
life, as from day to day they collect of 
us their dues, w^hile the firm away 
off represents the great debt or obli¬ 
gation to God. Is it any the less a debt 
because it is to a firm many miles 
aVay? Is the obligation any the less 
binding because the one to whom it is 
due is out of sight, or out of the world? 
Is a man honest when he meets his 
obligations to those near him and neg¬ 
lects them to those who are far away? 
Is a debt or duty any the less real be¬ 
cause it is to God? By this time he will 
perhaps cry out in bankruptcy and say 
the great debt he can’t pay. Then you 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 209 


have him in the right place to preach 
to him Jesus. Show him that the Great 
Creditor is willing to forgive him the 
debt if he will only confess that he 
owes it. That the blood of Jesus at 
one stroke, when applied by the hand 
of faith, will cancel the entire account, 
and that the effect of this transaction 
will be a well-spring of joy in his 
heart, bom of love for the One who 
has saved him from hopeless bank¬ 
ruptcy in this life, exposure and ruin in 
that which is to come. Now appeal to 
his idea of moral right and ask him, as 
a matter of duty and right, honor and 
principle, to surrender to God^s propo¬ 
sition and accept His proffered merc^. 

Read him the following condition, then 
the promise: 

‘‘If we confess our sins, he is faith- 1 -John i. 9 . 
ful and just to forgive us our sins and to 
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’’ 

“And the publican,standing afar off, 
would not lift up so much as his eyes un- 
to heaven, but smote upon his breast, 
saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” 



210 instructions for personal work. 


In this man^s case there are five 
noticeable, yea, essential facts: (a) his 
humility; (b) his earnestness; (c) his 
prayer; {d) his confession; (^) his 
^”toworked* faith. Urge these essentials on his 
mind, and then read him the following 
promise and get him to lay hold on it 
by compliance with the conditions of 
salvation as offered in the promise: 
Romans X. 13 . ‘Whosoever shall call upon the 
name of the Lord shall be saved.” If 
any further advice is needed, you will 
readily find it under one of the pre¬ 
ceding classes already discussed. And 
may God crown your efforts in leading 
moralists to Christ, and should some- 
o*ne tell you in the future as they have 
myself in the past, that the moralist is 
Have courage. a hopeless sinner, do not become dis¬ 
couraged. After giving your pre¬ 
ceptor credit for being honest, yet 
ignorant of the subject, apply yourself 
to the study of the outlines of work 
herein contained, and then put them 
into practice, and as success crowns 
your ^ efforts, many shall rise up to 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 211 


call you blessed. Then, being wise to^^se^up^oJaVi 
win souls, you will know, as I do, by 
actual experience, that there is a right 
and a wrong way to approach a moral¬ 
ist, and that those who regard him 
as hard and worthless material have 
either worked on the wrong side or 
not all. Let us, therefore, heed the in¬ 
junction of the Great Teacher and let 
down the net on the right side. Shad^\Yy%^f^^t 
may be harder to catch than sunfish, 
but they are worth more on the mar¬ 
kets of the world. “A word to the wise 
is sufficient.” 

Now let us proceed to notice the uni- 
veralist. By this I do not mean the sect ?do*Jotat ract 
started by John Fox, and called the 
Universalist Church, nor do I mean to 
say that a man who believes God will 
save all men cannot be saved himself, 
providing he complies with the terms 
of salvation. 

A man’s faith in a great many 
other doctrines, creeds, and theories 
may be very defective, and even dan¬ 
gerous, yet his faith in Christ may 



212 instructions for personal work. 


be sound and bis repentance tborough; 
still bis piety, faitb, or experience does 
not destroy tbe damaging effect of bis 
heresy. And tbe fact remains that 
while some have drawn from tbe posi- 
^oftion of extreme Calvinism the idea 
that God will only save a few, and them 
without condition or consent on their 
part, the selection having been made 
before the foundation of the world, 
hence unalterable, therefore there wHl 
only be a comparatively few saved; 
then let us eat the bread of idleness 
and risk the chances of election. 
While on the other hand the idea of 
universal salvation, always the ex¬ 
treme of Calvinism, furnishes the lost 
and sinking rebel, as he defies his 
Maker and tramples on His cause, the 
hope.^^ straw at which, like a drowning man, he 
catches as the last ghost of a dead hope, 
that since everybody, as believed by 
many good people, will be saved, though 
I act as a brute I am to all human ap¬ 
pearances a man, therefore I will be 
saved. 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAL WORK. 213 


“Though a slave to sin I inay be, 

There is salvation still for me.” 

Or perhaps the test of a little sar¬ 
casm would be better to bring out the 
ruinous nature of this deceptive 
spectre, in comparison with which 
even Csesar^s ghost was no better 
omen of destruction. 

“Tet us view with criticism 
This pleasing universalism. 

They tell you that it shall be well; 

There’s no angry God nor flaming hell; 

That drunkards may into glory reel, 

And after death no sorrow feel. 

Tike Judas, who sold Israel’s hope. 

Then swung to heaven on his own rope; 
Before his Lord he reached his home. 

Then looked back to see Him come. 
Ananias was for lying driven 
Away from earth direct to heaven. 

Sapphira lied unto the Holy Ghost and died. 
And these two, though unforgiven. 

Were instantly shut up in heaven. 

“The Sodomites of the Old World 
Were for their sins to glory hurled. 

The Canaanites they were so sinful, 

God tracked them to his holy temple; 

They were so bad they could not stand 
Away from heaven and God’s right hand; 


Said to have 
been written 
by a lady. 


No angry God. 


Judas betrayed 
his Lord. 


Heaven a pris¬ 
on. 



214 instructions for personal work. 


The bigger 
rascal the 
sooner saved 


A house on the 
sand. 


Eternal fire. 
All equal. 


A poor thing 
on which to 
lean. 


A fire Savior. 


And Christ, who for them shed His blood, 
Soon brought those rascals all to God. 

“And is it true, and will it stand, 

A house thus built upon the sand? 

You may laugh, mock, and deride. 

And trifle with the wrath of God, 

But, oh, alas, for thy poor soul, 

Which must in fiery billows roll. 

And suffer from Jehovah’s ire, 

The vengence of eternal fire!” 

Now, the fact remains that if I am 
wrong and the idea of universal salva¬ 
tion right, I will go over the same 
bridge as does the opponent of my 
faith. If all men will be saved, as he 
contends, as one I will. But if only 
believers are saved, as I preach, then * 
the man who only trusts to the defect¬ 
ive and fabulous hope that all will be 
saved is lost. So I have two chances 
to his one. This any teacher ought 
to be enabled to show, and any person, 
of ordinary intelligence to see. The 
modern view of salvation by fire, and 
probation after death, need not be de¬ 
nied in order to convince the universal- 
ist of the superiority of your position 



INSTRUCTIONS FOR PERSONAI, WORK. 215 


as a Christian, because there is as much 
probation for you as for him, and it is 
better to wash pure than to burn so; 
and if the blood should fail, as he, 
perhaps, will claim, you still have 
the same chance at the furnace of 
purification as does your opponent. 

If you are both right, then your road 

is straight to glory, while he must do not want to 

switch off in hell for awhile to be 

purified or saved by fire. If both will 

praise the authors of their salvation, 

then he will praise the fires of hell 

while you are joining with the death- 

bought and blood-washed in ascribing 

all the praise of your redemption to 

the Lamb that was slain and has 

redeemed us to God by His precious 

blood. If he becomes thoughtful, turn 

to class five\ if penitent, to class 

four\ but by all means win him if%o\sihi“ 

possible. 

And now may grace, mercy, and peace 
from God the Father, Son, and Holy 
Ghost be yours. Amen. 

The Author. 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, 
PUBLIC, AND PRESS. 


”ph!^b.,°pas-“ T am as much interested in you 
Church, Peo- A and your work as I am in any 

lia, Ill. / 

preacher in our denomination. The 
work which you did here is perma¬ 
nent; not one of those brought in have 
shown the least disposition to neg¬ 
lect their church work. The largest 
prayer-meeting ever held in the history 
of the church was held Wednesday 
night; over two hundred were present. 
The greatest activity prevails among 
my young people. If I stay here another 
year, I shall want you a month with me 
in meetings. Now if there is anything 
I can do for you, command my services.’^ 
^comc, wc will couvcrt 
a large house into a temporary church. 
We are truly and prayerfully anxious 
for you to come, and impatiently await 
your decision.’’ 


216 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 217 


“Glad the dear Lord is blessing Dip- 

your labors in the North. Have no 
doubt but that God has directed your 
steps this way.” 

“I thank you for your offer to pray to\ St- 
for me every day, and for your interest subject of 

. ^ religion. 

Ill the past. I gladly received your coun¬ 
sel, and will pray that God will love and 
keep you, for I feel you are spending 
your noble life in His cause; but as for 
myself, I feel as if it would be mockery 
to ask Him to bless and accept me, liv¬ 
ing as I do, after fighting against Him 
all my life. I think it’s so kind of you, 
in your busy life looking up lost souls, 
to write to me, for which I love and 
thank you. God bless you all the day, 
and God keep you all the night.” 

“Good-morning to you. How goes^a^Jo*^ 
the Lord’s battle? We are praying 
that He will give 3^ou a great victory. 

We want you here several weeks with 
us.” 

“No one rejoices more over your^^feoria.'iiii? 
success than Mr. Odell and myself. 

Scarcely a day goes by that I do not 



218 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


ask the kind Father to deal tenderly 
with you while you are so faithfully 
pointing lost ones to the Savior. 
Christ gave the disciples the feast that 
they might feed the multitude. You 
spoke of forgetting self in trying to 
get others into heaven; I know of no 
other way better calculated to produce 
happiness or insure reward. Since 
you left we have had fine audiences; 
everything moving right along. We 
find the converts earnest in the work. 
Since you were at Bethany, report says 
they find it difiB.ult to seat the people 
in the evening on the lower floor and 
gallery. So you will soon be thrown 
with strangers again; that must be the 
most trying part of your work. 

'* ‘Our friends on earth we meet with pleasure, 
While swift the moments fly‘ 

Yet ever comes the thought of sadness, 
That we must say good bye.’ 

^‘We will never say farewell in 
heaven.’’ 

was benefited by the story of 


An orphan girl 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 219 


Joseph as he met his father; so I hope 
to meet my papa in Heaven. 

“ Katy.” 

“ Since the meeting, the crowds are 
larger and the pastor preaches better. Albany^ 
Sixty-two have joined. Oh! such 
showers of blessing we have received, 
and many are taking hold with such 
earnestness! Hope your efforts will 
be successful in the future as in the 
past. The Lord doeth all things well.” 

“ I don’t believe God ever intended 
you to do anything else but hold pro- 
tracted meetings. Oh, for one more 
meeting like we had at Christiansburg, 

Mill Creek, and many other places I 
could mention! Oh, how I long to be 
with you in another meeting ! While 
traveling the other night I was think¬ 
ing of you, and could not refrain from 
weeping; and to-night I feel like ask¬ 
ing God from the depths of my heart 
to let us meet again. In my travels 
as teacher among the churches many of 
your old friends inquire after you 
and speak many good words of you. 



220 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


Though many miles stretch out between 
us, not a day passes that I do not think 
of you. When you talk to God about 
others, I want you to remember your 
old partner. T. A. Johnson.’^ 

^t^oductilu Dear Sir,—-T his will intro- 

toaa editor. to you Rev. E. B. Dillard, D.D., 

of St. Louis, Mo., an evangelist who 
has labored among us for nearly four 
weeks, and, by his plain, earnest, forci¬ 
ble, common-sense presentation of gos¬ 
pel truth, won more than a hundred 
souls to Christ, and greatly endeared 
himself to us. Entertain him, and you 
may find the angel unawares.'^ 

V a”i “Rcv. Audereck, pastor at Danville, 
iTe"id Rev.Crockett,of Fairmount, Rev.Wiley 

ings from . - ^ n 

one to three (jhrisman and Dr. D. D. Odell, ®f 

years after. ' 

Peoria, all have made favorable mention 
of the results of your work, and I have 
heard them speak in most flattering 
terms of you and your style of conduct¬ 
ing your meetings. They say that 
your work is thorough and lasting; 
that the judgment, under your preach¬ 
ing, is convinced; there being no nerv- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 221 


ous excitement, converts in your meet¬ 
ings have religion all the time. Several 
have said to me, ‘ Surely he is a soul- 
winner.^ I bid you Godspeed; may 
He guide you and keep you as His 
own. Doctor.” 

“ I feel that I almost know you; Bro. ^to Dn bdeii! 
Dillard often spoke of you and your 
meetings. I want to rejoice with you, 
and thank God for the conversion of 
sinners, whether there or here. Our 
meeting closed last night; there have 
been more than a hundred conversions, 
but I have no means of knowing ac¬ 
curately; eighty-two have joined our 
church. Dr. Dillard and myself bap¬ 
tized seventy-one last Friday. It was 
the most impressive baptismal service 
I ever witnessed; surely it was like 
John on the banks of the Jordan; there 
were at least twelve hundred people 
present. Before my service last night, 

I organized a B. Y. P. Union of fifty 
members ; others will join. The oldest 
members of my church say they never 
before saw such a meeting. The people 



222 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


were charmed with Brother Dillard’s 
preaching, and heartily approve of his 
method of work. Christ makes us all 
akin, and enables us to rejoice in the 
sowing and the reaping. Though I 
have never seen you, I want to grasp 
your hand in imagination, and thank 
God for the coming of Bro. Dillard to 
Peoria and to Windsor.” 

None left out. Traise God, from whom all bless¬ 
ings flow.’ My parents, my brother, 
sister, and cousin, all have been con¬ 
verted. ‘Joy cometh in the morning.’ ” 

Ajemper^nce X am better qualified for my work; 
thage, Ill. members of my Loyal Legion have 
been brought to Christ.” 

A request. ‘Dear Mr. Dillard, —I earnestly 

ask you to help me to pray for my sister 
and her husband. I have tried my very 
best to pray, but my prayers are very 
weak; but still I am doing my best. I 
did not sleep more than one hour last 
night, but prayed all night for myself 
and my friends, and hope my prayers 
will be answered, and that I may live a 
Christian and work for my Master.” 



comments from the pulpit, etc. 223 


“Thank God for ordering you here! 
Remember my children at a throne of 
grace. You make the plan of salva¬ 
tion so plain I can’t see why every 
sinner in church does not rise in a body 
and say, ^ I am for Jesus.’” 

“Albany, Wis., Feb. 20, 1892. 

B. Dillard^ Evangelist: 

“Dear Brother, —I desireto speak 
frankly of a few of your defects, as 
well as virtues, without prejudice or 
flattery. I think I have discovered 
in you, firstly, a persistent self-will 
and rather stubborn disposition, which 
I acknowledge is also one of my own 
defects; nevertheless, I believe that 
God is willing to honor persistency. 
It was one of Paul’s virtues. Secondly, 
I find this complaint prevalent: that 
he tells too many stories, such as the 
drunken man in the Catacombs, who 
declares that it is the resurrection 
morn and he is the first man on board, 
‘Hurrah for America!’ etc.; the James 
boys’ rattlesnake story, and others. 
Also I hear the complaint of egotism; 


. mother' 
anxiety. 



224 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


e, he is able to do such great 

things, we would think more of him 
if he would let some one else tell it.’ 
I trust that you will take these words 
of warning in kindness, and I assure 
you that they are given as such, as it 
is no easy matter for me to express 
such, when I consider your position as 
compared with mine. I feel that God 
has wonderfully blessed you, in giving 
you such a wonderful voice, intellect, 
and reasoning power; a plain, sensible 
way of presenting *your views so that 
others may understand them; a healthy 
body to support the intellect; a strong 
will, and courage to. say what you 
think; but, best of all, a kind heart 
and an earnest desire to go forth to do 
the will of the Master, by saving souls, 
lifting up fallen humanity, and holding 
high the banner of the cross. May 
God bless you in this work, and may 
you have the assurance that you have 
the best wishes, the sympathy, and the 
prayers of God’s people to hold you 
up. Remember, also, unto whom God 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 225 


has entrusted much, of them He ex¬ 
pects miich.^^ 

I saw the great need of a spiritual 
awakening. My heart craved a refresh- Brite. 
ing from God. I felt any genuine re- 
vival must be of God, and I besought 
Him, both in the pulpit and out of it, 
to make us feel the great need of special 
grace in saving sinners. Many in the 
church felt and prayed as I did. We 
were agreed as to our need and as to 
the source of supply. I then announced 
that the last Sunday in January, 1893, 

I hoped to begin special meetings, with 
the evangelist to lead ns. It is proper 
to say, however, that our meeting was 
delayed one month and a half, a delay 
which God blessed to our good. I 
organized a woman^s prayer-meeting, 
to meet weekly at some private resi¬ 
dence. Here the women prayed for 
the church, the pastor, the evangelist, 
and their unconverted friends, who 
were mentioned in prayer by name, all 
of whom were converted in the meet¬ 
ing. The mid-week prayer-meeting 



226 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


was well attended, the burden of which 
was prayer for a revival. All of my 
preaching in the meantime was directed 
specially to preparation of the church 
for an outpouring of grace in the sal¬ 
vation of sinners. Again, we talked 
about the meeting soon to be held; I 
spoke from the pulpit concerning the 
evangelist and his work; I mentioned 
him by name in prayer; we all prayed 
for him. God put within us large ex¬ 
pectations. One motive- was very 
prominent in the work of preparation: 
^ Do it all for the glory of God and the 
honor of His Son, Jesus Christ.^ Thus 
God was present when the evangelist 
came, and the immediate result was 
seventy-five baptisms.^’ 

“ The convert after the revival, how 
care for him, what shall be made of 
him? That depends just upon the 
convert himself. What does he wish 
to make of himself religiously? His 
own aspirations and desires will large¬ 
ly measure his growth. In the second 
place, try to awaken in him a true 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 227 


conception of the dignity of his heav¬ 
enly calling, and try to inspire him 
with the nobleness of being a child of 
God. Show him that regeneration is 
the beginning, and stainless perfection, 
in Christ, the goal of Christian charac¬ 
ter. In the third place, show him 
that ideal excellence in the Christian 
life follows from daily renewal, in 
prayer, Bible study, attendance upon 
all ordinary means of grace, and dili¬ 
gent work for Christ in doing good.” 

“ Dear Mr. Dileard, —This morn¬ 
ing in prayer-meeting you said if any 
wished especial prayers for their dear 
ones, to write you a note, so I write, 
praying myself for the Holy Spirit to 
direct me. I am a stranger to you; Mr. 
G-knows me. I want your pray¬ 

ers for 1113 ^ husband, who is dissipated. 
He said last night that he was almost 
persuaded to go up and ask for your 
prayers. This is a heavy cross that I 
have to bear, and drinking is his be¬ 
setting sin. If I know my own heart, 
I could give up anything to see him a 



228 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


Christian. He is coming to your meet¬ 
ing to-night and does not know about 
my writing. I want your prayers that 
I may have the assistance of the Holy 
Spirit to enable me to stand up under 
my cross until He shall see fit to raise 
it.” 

This man was converted and after¬ 
wards became cashier of the First Na¬ 
tional Bank of Richmond, Va. 

A poor widow. “ I wrote to you when your meeting 

first begun, asking your earnest prayers 
for the conversion of my children; 
three of them attended your meeting, 
and I am happy to say that all three 
are trusting in our Saviour, and each 
expresses a desire to unite with the 
church. I have been blessed, and thank 
God that in His wise providence He 
ordered you here. I have enjoyed all 
your sermons and have tried to pray 
for you. It is a sad thought that this 
is the last night you will preach for us. 
Our hearts have been drawn to each 
other in Christian love; you have done 
much good here. My faith has been 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 229 


much strengthened, and by the help of 
God I am resolved to live nearer the 
cross. I hope we will meet again, and 
if not in this life, we will on the other 
shore. I am a poor widow and God has 
led me through deep waters, but my 
trust is in Him; He alone can bind up 
my bleeding heart. I have two sons 
living far away from home, and I ask 
you particularly to remember them in 
your prayers. 

The letter that follows is from the Remarks, 
sister-in-law of a circuit judge, written 
in a city where the churches were all 
closed against me, after I had been 
invited by a committee of the best 
citizens of the city, who had previously 
secured a house, but it was shut in my 
face, after my arrival, by their jealous 
pastor, who denounced me as a tramp 
at the beginning, and a money-making 
machine at the end. He received forty- 
five converts from my meeting and re¬ 
ported them to the Conference as his 
own work. The Conference, however, 
removed him, and the board of elders of 



230 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


another church shipped their preacher 
out of town in the night in less than 
six months after the meeting, and thus 
ingloriously ended an eighteen years 
pastorate. Being turned out of the 
churches, we went into the court-house, 
which was packed to overflow, until a 
petition signed by two hundred and 
fifty people opened the church of the 
white-washed hypocrite referred to 
above. In eight days one hundred and 
fourteen were converted, including a 
man who had not been to church in 
eighteen years, two prominent phy¬ 
sicians, the city marshab the jailor, 
the drunken son of a Presbyterian 
preacher, the drunken son of an ex¬ 
judge, the deputy sheriff of the county, 
and a deaf lady who had not heard the 
gospel preached for ten years. The 
following letter will close the narrative. 

A letter. “ DEAR BrOTHER DiLLARD, 1 cau 

not let you go away without telling 
you how much I regret your doing so. 
I want to tell you that through your 
preaching my entire family have been 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 231 


converted. My husband was one of 
the greatest drinking men in the place, 
and I had almost given np hoping. 
When you came here there was not a 
church-member in my family. I had 
not been to church for four or five 
years, and there was no one outside of 
my family who asked me why I did not 
go. I have lived in Christiansburg for 
nineteen years, and there has been but 
two ministers in my house on a friend¬ 
ly, Christian visit (they but one time 
each), until you came. No one asked 
me if I was a member of the church or 
not. But I am now going to do the 
best that I can. I may never see you 
again, but I will never forget you. I 
expect to love you all of my life. If 
you ever come to Christiansburg again, 
come to see us. Respectfully yours, 

• “ Mrs. E. M. Gardner.” 

“Amherst, Va., Nov. 14,1888. 

“ My Dear Brother, —I deem it a 
high privilege to introduce to you our 
dear Brother Dillard, who bears this 
letter. We can heartily commend him 



232 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


to you and the people of your city as 
an earnest, zealous, gospel evangelist, 
laboring and giving his life to this 
work, not through ambition or worldly 
interest, but through a burning love 
for souls. He is a native of North 
Carolina, though his family now reside 
in Campbell County, Va. He is just 
closing a glorious revival at New Pros¬ 
pect, and not long since one at Corner 
Stone. The people come from far and 
near, and the immense crowds he com¬ 
mands and the great religious interest 
awakened in the community through 
his efforts prove him to be a man of no 
mean power in the pulpit. Our meet¬ 
ing has been in progress a week, and I 
think we have had over sixty converts; 
many hardened cases that all appeals 
heretofore have failed to reach. I hope 
you will use your influence in your 
great city, to which he has been in¬ 
vited, in making an opening for him 
and Professor Johnson, a sweet singer 
in Israel, who accompanies him, not 
only as a special favor to us, but be- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 233 


cause ‘we think him worthy for whom 
ye shall do this.^ He is receiving in¬ 
vitations from far and near, North and 
South, to hold meetings where he has 
already been and where he has not been, 
and we do hope that through your in¬ 
fluence and that of Sister Frank his 
meetings there may be greatly blessed 
to your own family and city. Brother 
Dillard is a Baptist (but not sectarian 
at all), and is as much beloved here by 
other denominations as our own. 

“ Best love from us to you and all 
your family. Your loving sister, 

“ Mary F. Phillips.” 

Doctor Dillard: 

“Dear Brother, —Through the Converts, 
influence of your preaching, and by the 
help of God, I have been made to see 
on what footing I was standing, and 
nowit is joy to my heart that I have 
taken a decided stand on the solid rock 
of faith; it being the second effort of 
my life. I hope and pray never again 
to turn back to the ways of this sinful 
world.” 



234 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


‘"Dear Dr. Dieeard,— I greatl}^ 
enjoyed the series of meetings just held 
A worker. Gilliam under your charge. I was 
an unbeliever when the meeting be¬ 
gan, but am proud to say that I am 
now bound for the promised land. 
Your sermon on the Holy Spirit made 
a deep impression on my mind, and I 
that night determined to become a 
Christian. After services the next 
night I made the surrender, and have 
since been trying to serve Him.^’ 

“Dear Dr. Dieeard, —When you 
reached our little village a few weeks 
ago, our home had a dark cloud over¬ 
shadowing it; one of us had not given 
his heart to God. But, through your 
influence, earnest entreaties and pra}^- 
ers, we humbled ourselves at the very 
feet of Jesus, and to-day rejoice in His 
love. Our sympathies and prayers fol¬ 
low you wherever you may go. W e 
trust that you may be blessed with 
, long life, and may win many more 

jewels for your crown. When we 
reach the Golden City we can strike 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 235 


glad hands and tell our Father and all 
that redeemed throng that through 
you we were led to be Christ’s true 
followers.” 

“Dear Bro. Dillard,— I praise 
the Lord for your having come to Gil¬ 
liam. I have been spiritually strength¬ 
ened and enabled to do more for the 
Master’s cause than ever before in my 
life. Before you came I never had the 
moral courage to go out and try to lead 
souls to Christ, but since this gracious 
meeting it is the greatest pleasure of 
my life to work for the Master; and, 

God helping me, from this time for¬ 
ward I lay myself down at my Savior’s 
feet, as an humble servant, to do His 
blessed will. May God’s blessings fol¬ 
low you wherever you go, is my earn¬ 
est prayer. Your sister in Christ, 

“Mrs. G. W. Norvell.’^ 

“ Dear Dillard, —The immaculate /e°r”tea 

sheet covers the metropolis of the 
plains, so I am in my room, taking a 
retrospective view of life, and looking 
with a mental eye out into the future. 



236 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


As I retrospect the past, among the 
many pleasant memories comes that of 
you, my dear Dillard. I could not be 
guilty of bad faith; hence this letter, 
as an expression of my love and loyal¬ 
ty to you. I have missed your pres¬ 
ence and delightsome conversation, 
and I have a longing desire to meet 
you again. Brother Lahines pane¬ 
gyrized your pulpit ability in a man¬ 
ner to please a prince. I was de¬ 
lighted at the encomiums, as I consider 
you the prince of evangelists. Your ser¬ 
mons impressed me with the idea that 
I was listening to God^s own gospel, 
and I became buoyant with fascina¬ 
tions of supreme delight, abounding 
in new hope and cheer. I am often 
seized by the world’s greatest curse, 
torturing doubt, and often awake in 
Doubting Castle, but I have always 
obtained relief by listening to your 
golden words of divine truth, which, 
like a key of promise, would unlock 
the door and drive out the nocturnal 
birds of depression, and for awhile 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 237 


bring relief. I am trusting God, and 
will try to work in His vineyard. I 
believe that I am an honest man, and 
while my faith is small and I have not 
too much religion, I could not think of 
trifling with you and the gospel of our 
blessed Christ. What I have written 
concerning your sermons is true. My 
highest object and aim in life is to 
reverence and obey God, and love and 
serve mankind, which is but a reason¬ 
able duty, 

“ Truly and faithfully yours. 

“I have been a member of the* 
church for several years, but at times 
I doubted the love of God. I became 
tired of reading my Bible, and went to 
church as a matter of habit, but since 
this glorious revival I have determined 
to be a sure-enough Bible Christian. 

Two young men, for whom I have 
prayed and worked, have been con¬ 
verted; also, after praying all night, a 
family trouble was settled next morn¬ 
ing between my father and married 
sister, who had been forbidden the 



238 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


Pastoral Rose¬ 
ville, 111. 


Pastor at SL. 
Mary’s, Ill. 


Saved a drunk¬ 
ard. 


Postmaster at 
1, a d o n i a, 
Texas. 


Albany, Wis. 
On the wrong 
track. 


house. They throw it at me daily 
that I am trying to be a saint. 

“Virginia.^’ 

trust the Lord will work through 
you. It has been many years since 
there was a shaking among the dry 
bones here.” 

“Call unanimous; will do the fair 
thing. Come in the fullness of the 
gospel of Christ.” 

“I was converted three years since 
from a drunkard. I love God^s people 
more than rum.’^ 

‘T like your style of preaching. 
Many here are church members. O 
that they might be converted! Practi¬ 
cal preaching does me good. I cease 
not to give thanks for you, making 
mention of you in my prayers.” 

“For four years I have been switched 
off on a siding. NotwhatIdid,but what 
I have not done, has been the trouble. 
Mother, husband, and uncles, through 
your preaching, have been brought to 
Christ, and I am on the main line.” 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 239 


“Four of US Have been converted in 
this glorious revival—two Husbands 
and wives—and we are on tHe way, 
bound for home.’^ 

“At Mt. Vernon the effects of your^'^a^tYeJ^ure 
meeting are seen to-day; the cHurcH is 
growing.^’ 

“We feel you Have done a gi'^at 
work here, and contribute this, as a 
token of appreciation to God's servant.’’ 

“Two led to Christ and saved^” carthage, m. 

“I appreciate your services, and as ^ 

a convert I feel it my duty to contrib¬ 
ute to you for your services.” 

“We were speaking of you the other pastor, 
day. We pray God to give you grace 
to get things straight there.” 

“I feel I am nearing my home fast, Beuie Baynes, 
and may God bring my boys in. If 
my death would be the means of sav¬ 
ing them, I am submissive.” 

“Can understand the Bible better.” 

“I have been deeply impressed by coinb, III. 
the love of Jesus, which has been a 
prominent feature in your sermons.” Har- 

“We have only received a drop, com- 



240 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


Sunday-school 

teacher. 


Albany, Wis, 
A worker. 


pared to what God could give us if His 
people were only ready to receive it; a 
sad feature. So often after these good 
meetings God^s people relax their 
efforts.^^ 

believe in personal contact as a 
great help in bringing men to Christ. 
Come back soon. This is a measure 
of our ability, but not of interest.’’ 

“We must look to God at all times 
and rely upon His promises. One bap¬ 
tized, several more to follow. They 
talk of making two more deacons; one 
of the converts, Bro. Bartlett, will be 
one.” 


“Pray for a boy who is an enemy of 
mine, but I have no ill will towards 
him.” 


l>eacon Mitch¬ 
ell, R o s e - 
ville. Ill. 


r. A. Johnson, 
Madison- 
ville, Va, 


“Sorry you did not remain here 
longer; there are ten young people 
very nearly or quite in the Kingdom.” 

“Read yours three times. I am re¬ 
minded of our travels among the moun¬ 
tains. Hope you will continue revival 
work; that is your work. Your ser¬ 
mon on drinking and gambling bene- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 24 1 


fited me, for that has been the ruin of 
many a home. Will you repeat the 
sermon of last Saturday?’^ 

‘We want to keep you at B— until 
the scattered flock is gathered. Ass. 
will supplementyour salary. Mayahar- 
vest of souls be gathered. I staid and 
gathered the flock; did what five coun¬ 
cils had failed on, but the Lord paid me 
in the conversion of my two sons while 
there. Praise His name. “D.” 

“It does me good to praise the Lord, ahom soldier. 
We will never meet again.’^ 

“My daughter has come out on the Mother. 
Lord’s side. Pray that she may be an 
earnest worker.” 

“God has blessed my soul.” convert. 

“I think all would like to have you 
come back again. We must leave that 
in God’s hands, but, as the man who 
was praying for God to select his wife 
for him, we will ask Him to lean in 
your direction.” 

“We fix date for your coming ap- 
proximately, and shall await your com¬ 
ing any time after election.” 



242 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


Dr.j. T.cook. ^‘Tlie night carries my thoughts to 
Dover and to you, my brother, who have 
so endeared yourself to me. May the 
Lord draw souls this night to Him.’’ 
^fo?“whom^i shall go back and let them buy 

l5rayed°bu”a cofEu foT me. Oh, my friend, just 
jesi^sted the think: not yet twenty-one, and 1 must 
die and leave all for which I have lived!” 
con' -;rt. ^What u load has been taken from 

my mind! How little did I think, one 
month ago, that such a thing could be 
possible!” 

^worker”' "" “The Lord bless you in your bus.y 
way, and peace be around thee where- 
ever thou roamest.’* 

^eipiSed^^® “You have created in me a desire 
to study the Word. My faith in the 
word of God is stronger. Your ex¬ 
planation of the Scriptures has done 
me great good; I am better prepared 
for work.” 

“Will Still give you the lot and help 
you to build on it if you will come and 
live among us.” [I could not accept 
such a gift.] 

“I have experienced some good 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 243 


blessings from tbe Lord. I pray for 
more of His love. I want to unite my- Jetera/JS'n- 
self with God’s people. I can now com- 
prebend wbat I must do to be saved.” 

‘‘I am poor in goods, but rich in A ripe sheaf, 
faith. I have been in the service over 
sixty years.” 

‘‘I have a more earnest desire to be Fisher, uuca. 
always ready for any service in His 
cause.” 

“I am more fully resolved to live acrozier. 
more earnest Christian life.'’ 

“My prayer is that I may have Anniec. 
strength to use the good I have re¬ 
ceived.” 

“I have seen my heart as never be¬ 
fore. I trust I will be more useful. I 
shall always remember you as one of 
our Savior’s most faithful servants.” 

“The meetings have been an in¬ 
spiration. May you be always strong, 
faithful, and true. I know we have 
been greatly blessed and benefited in 
the work, and by God’s help we will 
be better fitted to go forth to our Mas¬ 
ter’s work.” 



244 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


Rider, 111. ‘‘I havc becii been Helped on toward 

Heaven. I sHall not die, but live to de^ 
dare the work of the Lord.’’ 

Dea^con Renet- j Have Heeu benefited byyourexpla- 

field, Ill. . r • -n. 1 t 

nation of Scripture. Pray that I may 
yet be an earnest worker for the Lord.” 

Convert. ‘‘J was couvertod to the Lord and 

will now take the Bible as my guide 
and do my duty.” 

®iVd^inS ‘‘We have both been greatly bene- 
fited and will always have the kindest of 
memories of you in the future.” 

[Their pastor said of them, three 
years after, that they were jewels and 
pillars.] 

At the close of ^‘Dear Sister Dillard,—I want 

ray stay as / 

Ma?ombL?ry®^ y^^ never did that 

Brother Dillard will not throw down 
this work here, but stay here for many 
years to come. I have heard many 
preachers preach the gospel, but none 
like our dear pastor. If he leaves, I 
feel as though I shall never hear him 
again. Member.” 

^rfte'T'th? “I have been strengthened and seen 

meeting, sinuers brought to Christ.” 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 245 


“The fruit of your meetings has been 
a power for good around here. Since 
the meetings two have professed and I 
believe more will follow. I have prayed 
for you every night and motning.^^ 

“Glad to hear your meetings are^ie^^JI^ n?w 
increasing daily and wish I could be 
there; I enjoy your preaching. I trust 
you may have physical and spiritual 
strength to go ahead with your work. 

A great many have said to me that they 
Lad never enjoyed a meeting as they 
did yours with us. We trust to have 
you with us again at some future time. 

My son came forward for prayer the 
last night. Remember him at a throne 
of mercy. Deacon.^’ 

“Glad to hear of your success in the ^cyrYnl' 
Lord’s work. It is a good idea for you 
to take some rest. The Master said to 
his disciples, ‘Come apart and rest.’ 

It is unwise to run this machine too 
much.” 

“Oh, how the weak prayers of un-^ 
faithful Christians are often so signally 
answered!” 



246 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


Ktermty will <<The good doHc by faitHful preach¬ 
ing eternity alone will reveal.’’ 

‘‘You have deserted your old State 
long enough. What a feast it would 
be to have you in another meeting! I 
shall never forget the delightful hour 
of worship had in our home in Amherst 
the morning you and Bro. J. left. If 
the fellowship of kindred minds is so 
delightful here, what will it be up yon¬ 
der? Won’t you, notwithstanding the 
many burdens you bear, sometimes pray 
that our children may be fitted for a 
high plane of usefulness? If prayer is 
worth anything, you have ours. Al¬ 
ways for the success of your work.” 

“I write, as I promised, to tell you 
at our friend Lottie is converted. I have 

more faith in prayer than ever. Give 
the praise to the Lord.” [She was an 
infidel and the daughter of one.] 

keep a lookout for an open- 
heard rom. work togothcr 3 . whilo, and think 

it might work well for the Master’s 
cause. W. E. Renn.” 

“I know you Avill have four times as 




COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 247 


many calls as you can fill. Our loss 
will be some other field^s gain.’’ 

“I heard a lady say she had never 
enjoyed anything in all her life as she 
did your preaching while here. I am 
not surprised to hear the people are so 
pleased with you in Kansas City.” 

“I hear of a ministering brother in N^^rmaf, 
Bushnell who has marked success, will 
you give me his address and recommend 
him?” Answer: Can’t recommend. 

I that write to thee am he.” 

was converted the last night ofAiittiegiri. 
your meeting. I close with the love of 
Jesus for me, and mine for you.” 

^‘Having heard of your work at sev- ^spnlfgleid; 
eral places, I write to ascertain if your ^ 
services can be had in Springfield. 

Write by first mail whether we can 
hope to secure you.” 

“Your sermons on ^The Holy Ghost’ ^hJardfTo^m.*' 
and ‘Excuses’ were the best I ever heard 
in all my life. O that I had words to 
express to you the gladness I have that 
God put it into my heart to be a Chris¬ 
tian! Some day in heaven I hope to 



248 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


A. deacon 
keard from. 


l>evirs agents. 
Pastor Elliott. 


A student. 


A liberal soul. 


A gift to the 
•work. 


i^hree es.sen- 
t i a 1 s to 
preaching. 


tell you of how I enjoyed hearing you 
tell of God^s love. G” 

hope God will bless you at M- 

and the people become interested in the 
work as they have here, and that you 
will return to us in the near future.” 

‘^Ithinkthe devilhad some members 
of other churches to help him, and on 
that account our results were not as far- 
reaching as they would have been. My 
people came in after you left and 
brought substantial tokens of friend¬ 
ship; besides provisions, was clothing 
for the entire family.” 

‘‘I learned more by one of your ser¬ 
mons than I could learn by myself in 
six months.” 

‘^Hadl a hundred dollars to give you, 
it would be a pleasure. Accept this 
and remember the greater will which 
goes with it.” 

I enclose some printed matter; give 
it to some soul seeking the Savior.” 

Your sermons were good from the 
first, because of their earnestness, sim¬ 
plicity, and beauty of thought. This 




COMMENTS PROM THE PULPIT, p:TC. 249 


meeting has been a great blessing to 
me.” 

‘ ‘ Sixteen have united with the church After themeet- 
since you left, myself among the rest.” 

Shall ever remember you as one^i,e„^bUed.^’ 
who has done me great good. Pray 
that I may grow in grace.” 

“I shall begin week of prayer and»r.E.A.stoac. 
move slowly on so you can come in. 

Let us knock the persimmons and 
gather them. Preach the gospel and 
expect results.” 

“As long as I may live and pastor pastor Fisher, 
churches, I want no one but you to 
hold my meetings.” 

“I endorse your plans over anyone^^ersoi^tiS- 
I have ever seen.” [This man was noin- 
inated for Governor of Tennessee, and 
died the next day.] 

“I am sure you have gifts for evan-^'Hut"o^^^^®^ 
gelistic work. Trust the Lord and go 
ahead.” 

^ Tf it is a question of money, that need 
not delay you, for people are coming to 
me 'with money in their hands, saying, 

^ Have him come; we want him again.^ ” 



250 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


Got the wrong- 
mail. 


Pastor at Dan¬ 
ville, Ill. 


Broadhead, 

Wis. 

A little girl. 


Musthavehira 

again. 


After the meet¬ 
ing. 

Paris, Ill. 


A foretaste of 
heaven. 


A second call. 


After the meet¬ 
ing. 


“The union meeting has not been 
what we pastors hoped it to be. We 
want you to come.” 

“We will work and wait; I believe 
God’s hand is directing this work.” 

“I am trying, by the help of the 
Savior, to be a better girl. We have 
a class society in Sunday school to 
help support a pastor.” 

“Our pastor said yesterday, We must 
have him next winter to give us an¬ 
other stiring up.’” 

“ Many come to enquire about you. 
I wish I could tell you how much we 
think of you. Five more were baptized 
last Sunday.” 

“Mamma says she thinks the meet¬ 
ings while you were here were a fore¬ 
taste of what we shall have in heaven.” 

“Can you come and spend ten days? 
My people speak very kindly of your 
work here two years ago.” 

“We had a grand prayer-meeting; all 
the converts but one testified. I never 
was happier in my life; I know I am do¬ 
ing what Christ has commanded me.” 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 251 


I hope you will have good meetings, a coMvert. 
and I know you will, for God is with 
jou.’’ 

“ If we would only grasp the prom-^7^'? ^ladies' 
ises of God, how much better it would 
be.” 

*‘Do you think I can get the evan- 
gelist you had? Write me where to 
find him.” 

I wrote my old classmate and pred- 
ecessor a glowing account of your 
work here.” 

‘Words cannot express the gratitude 
I feel for your kindness to me and 
mine, and may God bless you and yours 
shall ever be my prayer.” 

“ Doctor, you looked tired at Clinton; convert, 
we want you to come and stay with us 
and rest a few days before going to R. 

I will do all I can to help you, and take 
you riding every day. More people at¬ 
tend the prayer-meetings since the 
meeting than ever before.” 

“Before you came to this place on^io^apnLa! 
your blessed mission I was an infidel, 
because, as you remarked this morning. 



252 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 

it suited my manner of living better. 
Your first sermon convinced me there 
was a God, the almighty First Cause; 
your second, that I owed Him a debt I 
could never pay; your third persuaded 
me to give my heart to the Blessed 
One, who is the way, the truth, and the 
life. I believe my conversion is per¬ 
manent, and that the pardon is full. I 
can never express the thanks I have 
for you. My prayer is that you may 
help many more unhappy sinners.’’ 

^ ^ ^ovL were the first whoever seemed 

to think I even had a soul. You saved 
me from being an infidel. You helped 
me when life seemed unbearable.” 

Lost. ‘‘With my own hand I have shut 

forever mercy’s gate.” 

®wtterr “Hope your preaching here will be 

as bread cast on the waters. Have been 
encouraged to go on in the good work.” 

Good results. I am glad to hear you are having 
a good meeting. How could it be 
otherwise? The Sunday after you left 
thirteen were baptized; the house would 
not hold the crowd; two others joined.” 




COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 253 


“ I heard a man who calls himself an 
evangelist, but he acted more like a 
lunatic escaped from some asylum. I 
learned you would be at the Baptist 
church there; I told the people to go 
and hear you, so you must give them 
some of those beautiful sermons you 
preached here.^’ 

“ Remember the ability that God has 
given you. You are calculated to do 
so much good in this sinful world.” 

^^Two baptized. Dr.W. preached a 
fine sermon; it was a feast to the young 
converts. We organized a prayer and 
praise meeting Friday night; one of 
the new members read a chapter and 
led in prayer; so, you see, we put them 
to work. You have a great hold on 
our people. Dr. C. said some nice 
things about you Sunday.” 

I sometimes grow tired and feel 
like Elijah, all alone. But God sends 
a comforting word and makes me feel I 
am not alone. It was very kind of you 
to remember me and send such good 
news. I thank you heartily for such 


Hard on the 
preacher. 


Responsi- 

bility. 


McElroy, Dov¬ 
er, Mo. 


Rev.S.P. Brite. 



254 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


From the field 
after three 
years. 


From warden, 
Iowa prison. 


Dr. Netherton 
Clinton, Mo 


Prof. Stone, 
L,a Gra n g- e 
College, Mo. 


kind and brotherly feeling. I often 
think of you and your work, and cher¬ 
ish only the most brotherly interest 
for you and yours. Many of our new 
converts are doing nobly. I wish I 
could have you in a meeting again. I 
like to work with you.’^ 

“We want you again. Many of the 
converts from the former meeting are 
expecting you to baptize them when 
you come. We have no pastor.’^ 

“ Mr.-seems to be sincere in 

his-change of life; he has given up to¬ 
bacco and testifies in social meetings, 
which is a good sign.^’ 

“Your good work here has been a 
great blessing to us. May He continue 
to bless your efforts wherever you go. 
The church requests the publication 
of your last Sunday^s sermon in the 
Central Baptist?'^ 

“I want to speak in time to have 
you with me this fall. I was glad to 
receive your recommendation to the 
Arkansas church. I long to be wholly 
engaged in the pastorate.’^ 




COMMENTS FROM THE FULPIT, ETC. 255 


“I was glad to hear you were tak¬ 
ing a rest. I could but feel you were 

sick after leaving R-. Baptized two 

more last Sunday. Services have been 
good since the meetings closed. I 
hope your rest will enable you to enter 
the fall campaign with vigor. Many 
kind inquiries have been made about 
you since you left.” 

recommended you at P-; they 

are anxious to have you. I want you 
introduced into this State. Dover 
people were glad to hear from you. 
Had a good meeting and baptized two.” 

“ Mrs. D-, we had the pleasure of 

hearing your husband, the eloquent 
divine. He has evidently won the 
hearts of the people of Clinton. God 
showered His blessings upon them last 
night, and six precious souls were con¬ 
verted. To Him be all the glory. Our 
meeting has been a success in every 
particular; church strengthened, Chris¬ 
tians awakened, new zeal inspired, and 
a host converted.” 

“All remember and speak well of 


Pastor Manes, 
Rolla, Mo. 


Presi dent of 
lya Grange 
College. 


Deaconess, 

Windsor, 

Mo. 





256 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


s^t and seem to miss you. By all 

|hawsviiie.^^^^g go and get acquainted with Mr. 

C. A. Miller. j £)- ^ 

catholic spirit and a successful revival¬ 
ist. He treated me with all due re¬ 
spect; he was at all times open to broth¬ 
erly suggestions and Christian advice. 
There have been over a hundred con¬ 
versions in C . He assumes that the 

gospel is true and insists that people 
accept and act with him; judgment be¬ 
gins at the house of God; Zion must 
travail and bring forth—but I need 
not eulogize him; you will see for 
yourself. Mr. D-is young, not be¬ 

yond the fear of temptation; I have 
put him on his guard against being 
uplifted. I close by saying that many 
a sister, mother, and father among us 
has been made to rejoice because of 
what the Lord has done.^^ 

Conrert* I feel much complimented by your 

expression of interest in my present 
and future welfare; I shall always make 
an honest effort to prove worthy of 
your high regard. I must be honest 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 257 


with myself, so in the future I shall 
bring no reproach on the great cause 
for which you are giving your life.^' 

“I am a Christian, and there is Paris- 
nothing on this earth which would in¬ 
duce me to give up my hope of heaven. 

“I have a delightful room. The Rev. narru. 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost dwell 
with me. I know I would not change 
places with any man on earth. P.” 

Your sermons have opened my eyes lowa. 
to the terrible abyss over which I was 
standing; secondly, they showed me 
the way out of darkness and death into 
light and life, with Christ as my Sav¬ 
ior and guide. 

Dear Brother,— Praise the Lord 
for His wonderful works! Night be- 
fore last your dear son found peace. 

He is so happy; his face shines with 
the light of God.^' 

‘'We are sure the boy is safe; heBereavemeut. 
loved Jesus ; we cannot wish him back. 

Those gone have the best of it.’’ 

“Anything which has come from my ^ 
pen or tongue belongs to the Lord 



258 COMMENTS FROM TllE PUEPIT, ETC. 


Jesus, and His servants have a right to 
use His weapons.” 

‘‘Dear Brother, —There has been 
so much clap-trap work down here that 
I fear the cause has fallen into disre¬ 
pute. I am praying for a deep work, 
and we will all try to be ready when 
you shall come. The ram^s horn has 
sounded, but the walls have not fallen. 
God bless you.” 

South. the “Allerson wants you at Greenville, 
Tenn, and if you will accept, he will 
gladly wait until you are through at 
Johnson City. While I was at Bristol 
Brother Haymore baptized several more 
from your meeting.” 

^s^ded! Papa is almost persuaded to be a 

Christian. Won’t you help me pray 
for him? I take everything to God in 
prayer, however small. I have had so 
many answers.” 

Waiting. ‘^Glad to hear of your great success 

in Christiansburg; may it continue. 
Withville will wait until you come.” 

^the I l*eel that your preaching has done 

me a great deal of good, though I do 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 259 


not feel I am good enough to join the 
church. I am praying to God to give 
me a brighter evidence than I have. 

Pray for me wherever you go, and I 
believe your prayers will be answered. 

I hope we will meet in heaven, if no 
more on earth.” 

‘‘ I must write you. I am so happy Rozetta, m. 
since I united with the church. Your 
plan of work led me to Christ. Oh, 
how I love you for your influence in 
saving me! Others here have been 
saved as well, and feel the same way. 

This has been the happiest part of my 
life. Persons who were so hard and 
laughed at me at first now gather 
around and shake hands with me. If 
there is a preacher on earth doing good, 
it is you. I hope you will soon come 
back again.” 

‘^Your letter comes like sunshine * 

through the clouds ; we have taken on 
new hope, and shall continue to pray 
until you come. ClERK.” 

“In the Lord^s time you will suc-^realyl^^ 
ceed, no matter what the weather or 



260 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


roads may be. We will be ready when 
you come.” 

centraiia, Ill. Your idea of my preaching, as you 
expressed it to me, has put me to think¬ 
ing on that subject. Should I decide, 
what college would you recommend? 
Many things said in your sermons have 
done me great good. Two more united 
with the church last night, the photog¬ 
rapher and wife. B.” 

Mrs. Rice. Mrs. D - , we enjoyed your hus¬ 

band’s stay in Evansville, and especially 
with us. We felt as if we had known 
him always, and feel as though we 
know you.” 

®^ “I hope the Good Being is blessing 
you. I wrote to Pulaski City in regard 
to a house for you. Our prayers will 
ever follow you.” 

EYidence. I thauk God for the evidence I ha^/e 

in my poor heart that I am a child of 
of His. I love Jesus and the cause.” 

Wife and I often speak of you, and 
wish we could again enjoy your forcible 
and logical discourses. I am hard to 
please when it comes to preaching, but 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 261 


I can say without flattery that yours 
suited me exactly, and I live in hopes 
of some day being treated to just such 
a feast. , 

I believe that man is thoroughly 
converted, because he has cleaned up 
himself and looks like a gentleman — 
an outward sign of an inward work.’^ 

^‘Rev. E. Banks Dillard is having 
crowded houses at the Baptist church.” 

“ Last evening Evangelist Dillard’siind!i/olrna/. 
sermon was of a superior order. Many 
of his hearers were moved to tears. It 
is now understood why he has been 
having crowded houses in other cities.” 

“ Saturday evening services were in 
some respects the most interesting of 
the whole series. Quite a number of 
adults came forward and professed con¬ 
version, among them a gentleman for 
whom many prayers have been offered 
by his wife and many of his Christian 
friends. Friday evening his wife was 
received into the church, having been 
a Baptist for a number of years. 

‘^Mr. Dillard’s sermon on the‘Open- 



262 COMMKNTS FROM THF PULPIF, ETC. 


ing of the Books/ Rev. xx:17, was elo¬ 
quent and impressive, as all his ser¬ 
mons have been. 

“To-day will probably be his last in 
the city. All who have not yet heard 
this able and earnest man should avail 
themselves of the opportunity of hear¬ 
ing one or all three sermons to be 
preached to-day.’^ 

“Revival meetings in the Baptist 
church, under the charge of Evangelist 
Dillard, are now in progress. Rev. 
Dillard, in manner and matter, is much 
like Evangelist Williams, who aroused 
such an interest throughout the whole 
'city some two years ago. Last evening 
a large audience gathered to hear him 
and great interest was manifested. 
^Who Is on the Lord’s Side?’ was his 
subject. To-morrow night he speaks 
especially ^ To Weak Christians.’ Go 
and hear him. It wdll not only enter¬ 
tain, but do every one good to listen 
to his eloquent and energetic appeals. 

“Fine singing,under the leadership 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUTPIT, ETC. 263 


of Mrs. W. A. Connelly, is an attract¬ 
ive feature of these meetings.” 

‘^The meeting last evening was by 
far the most interesting meeting of 
the series, Mr. Dillard preached one 
of his earnest and forcible sermons on 
‘Decision,’ appealing to all to make 
a decision to come out on the Lord’s 
side at once. One went forward and 
professed conversion. Several arose 
for prayers and four were received as 
candidates for baptism. The hearts of 
God’s people were made glad for all 
these good things. Mr. Dillard will 
only be with the church this week. All 
who have not heard him should hear 
his fervent appeals. This evening the 
subject will be the ‘Wagons in Egypt 
in the Days of Joseph.’” 

“ Last evening the church was liter- 
ally packed. The first part of the ser- 
vice was devoted to a short service of 
prayer and song, followed by the ad¬ 
ministering of the ordinance of bap¬ 
tism by the pastor to five young candi¬ 
dates; after which Mr. Dillard preached 



264 COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 


a soul-stirring sermon, telling what lie 
understood by the term, ‘the desire or 
feeling for a religious life.^ This even¬ 
ing bis subject will be, ‘Opening the 
Books. 

goodly proportion of the large 
crowd that filled the cburcb last even¬ 
ing consisted of young people. Mr. 
Dillard talked especially for tlieir bene¬ 
fit, and talked to them and at them in 
a simple, earnest, kindly way. His 
discourse was interspersed with nu¬ 
merous apt and interesting anecdotes, 
and held the attention of all to the 
end, even of the ‘littlest tot^ of them 
all. No mere synopsis of this sermon 
would do either the subject or speaker 
justice, as Mr. Dillard must be seen as 
well as heard to fully appreciate his 
matter or his force as a speaker. The 
ordinance of baptism was administered 
to four new converts. This evening 
Mr. Dillard’s subject will be ‘Eliiah’s 
God.’” 


Vindicator,h!L~ 
feany, Wis. 


“Evangelist Dillard preached three 
grand sermons yesterday to large audi- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 265 


enceS. It was the best day since the 
revival set in, and the interest taken 
in the services was very great. At 
the morning service two adults con¬ 
fessed conversion and nine united with 
the church. At night there were five 
conversions and several asked for the 
prayers of the church. Rev. Dillard 
has consented to remain a few days 
longer, and will preach to-night. All 
are cordially invited.” 

“The revival at the Baptist church 
is growing in power and interest. Sev¬ 
eral came forward for prayers and nu¬ 
merous requests for prayer for others 
were made. The sermon by Rev. Dil¬ 
lard was on prayer, and was listened to 
with rapt attention by the large audi¬ 
ence. He is a preacher of rare power. 
He will preach to-day at 2:30. All are 
invited to come and hear him. Ser¬ 
vices also at 7:30 in the evening.** 

“The church was again filled to the 
door last evening. Mr. Dillard preached 
from I. Kings 18:21, ‘How long halt ye 
between two opinions?* The history 



266 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


of our race, from time immemorial to 
the present day, in whatever land or 
people, from ‘enlightened England’ to 
‘darkest Africa/ shows that man wor¬ 
ships something. All of them have 
been and are now either worshipers of 
the living God or idolaters. So kind, 
so sympathetic, so unselfish was his 
appeal to worship the ‘God of Elijah,’ 
it would seem that none could fail to 
decide at once, ‘That as for me and my 
hoase, we will serve the Eord,’ and a 
number did decide last evening this 
most important question. Four were 
received for baptism.” 

“Peoria, March 26, ’93. 
dawned upon the church 
three and a half years ago; they arose 
and built an elegant new house of wor¬ 
ship at a cost of $60,000 or more, and 
have since then organized one of the 
missions into a church, which has also 
built a new house of worship and is in 
a flourishing condition. About six 
weeks ago Evangelist E. B. Dillard and 
Vocalist L. H. King came to this place 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 267 


and began a series of meetings in Me¬ 
morial Baptist Church, which resulted 
in the addition of thirty to that church; 
after which, on the invitation of the 
pastor. Dr. D. D. Odell, they began a 
work in the First Church. The large 
auditorium, which will seat from eight 
hundred to one thousand, was filled 
with those who were eager to listen to 
the gospel. As a result of their labors 
forty-four have thus far united by bap¬ 
tism, and others will follow. 

‘‘The pastor and people have been 
greatly blessed through the work of 
this most earnest brother, who is en¬ 
tirely free from the petty faults which 
sometimes attach themselves to evan¬ 
gelists. Brother Dillard is a plain, 
earnest preacher, who relies upon God 
to bless his work. 

“The pastor cheerfully recommends 
him as one of the best preachers, and 
the safest for evangelistic work. 

“D. D. Odell.” 

“Rev. Dillard is a typical evangel¬ 
ist—one calculated to do great good 




268 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


Fannin Coun¬ 
ty News, La- 
donia, Tex. 


Herald-D e ni 
EaGrange, 

Mo. 


wherever lie goes. His sermons here 
were devoid of denominational abuse 
and disgusting personalities, but re¬ 
plete with the Word of God and true 
Christianity. The ordinance of bap¬ 
tism was administered Monday night. 
The total result of the meeting was 
twenty-five additions and reinstate¬ 
ments.^’ 

‘^The Baptist protracted meeting 
will probably close next Sunday night. 
The good work done at this place by 
Dr. Dillard will never be fully known 
till the ‘ books are opened ’ on the final 
day. His sermons have been chaste, 
eloquent, and logical. He has con¬ 
ducted his meetings on a broad and 
liberal basis, and all denominations 
have worked and enjoyed it. When 
Dr. Dillard leaves Ladonia he will carry 
with him the best wishes of all Chris¬ 
tian people of Ladonia. May he live 
long to prosecute the noble work in 
which he is engaged.” 

‘‘Recently Dr. E. B. Dillard closed 
a meeting of two and a half weeks’ dura- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 269 


tiou at La Grange. There were twen¬ 
ty-six additions; eighteen were bap¬ 
tized by the pastor, Elder D. T. Mor¬ 
rill. Elder Dillard, during his stay in 
La Grange, made many friends among 
the people, regardless of church affilia¬ 
tion. He devotes his entire time and 
talent to the conversion of sinners, 
considering the matter of church pref¬ 
erence of minor importance, and all 
denominations will be benefited by 
his labors there. He grew upon the 
people at every service, his eloquent 
and impassioned appeals winning for 
him distinction as an orator and rever¬ 
ence as a devout minister.’’ 

^‘Windsor. —Wehave justclosedthe 
most wonderful meeting that it was 
ever my privilege to enjoy. The old¬ 
est members of our church say it has 
been the greatest they have ever wit¬ 
nessed. God has magnified His Son 
in the salvation of more than a hun¬ 
dred souls. The work was quiet, but 
deep. The meeting continued nearly 
four weeks, the preaching being done 



270 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


by Rev. E. B. Dillard, D.D., of Maple¬ 
wood, St. Louis. Bro. Dillard is a 
gospel preacher, full of earnestness and 
clothed with the Spirit. I have never 
before heard such appeals to the judg¬ 
ment and conscience. As an evangel¬ 
ist, he is the pastor’s friend, and. free 
from all questionable methods of work. 
I have never seen an evangelist whom 
I more heartily endorse. Bro. Dillard 
was aided by his singer, Mr. L. H. 
King, who added much to the interest of 
the meeting. On April 7th the pas¬ 
tor, aided by Bro. Dillard, baptized, in 
the presence of at least twelve hundred 
people, seventy-one happy converts. 
Six others await baptism; five were 
received by letter; one restored. We 
have organized a Baptist Young Peo¬ 
ple’s Union, with fifty already enrolled. 
Bro. Dillard is now in a meeting at 
Clinton, where I trust God will use 
him in the conversion of scores of 
souls. S. P. Brite.’’ 

“Honey Grove.— Bro. E. B. Dil¬ 
lard, of Bushnell, Ill., a Virginia and 



COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 271 


North Carolina boy, is with me hold¬ 
ing a meeting. Some eight profes¬ 
sions yesterday, and there have been 
several additions. Large crowds gather. 
We had to move to the M. E. College. 
Bro. D. is in many respects a remark¬ 
able preacher. His sermons are of a 
high grade. He is logical, scriptural, 
forceful. We think he could do a great 
work in Texas if we could locate him 
here. We commend him highly as an 
evangelist, with ten or fifteen years^ 
experience in Virginia as a pastor. 
He is a D.D. of La Grange College, Mo. 
He will be in the State several w«eks. 
Write to him, brethren, and invite him 
to visit your church, if you want a good 
evangelist. B. W. N. Simms.” 

“To-morrow closes the third 
of the meeting at the Baptist church, 
with the interest better now than it has 
been at any time during its progress. 
Up to Thursday night there had been 
over fifty conversions and thirty-three 
additions to the Baptist Church. The 
congregations have been very large, a 



272 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


great many standing, unable to obtain 
seats. The attention has been the 
closest and most respectful, and there 
has been profound earnestness and in¬ 
telligent activity on the part of the 
church and preachers. Mr. Dillard, the 
evangelist, is the most' persistent of 
men. He does not stop with one invi¬ 
tation for each evening, but makes 
them over and over again, urging sin¬ 
ners to accept Christ, and'in the gen¬ 
tlest, kindest way persuades them. The 
meeting will go on the coming week, 
and possibly longer, if the interest 
remains good.^’ 

‘^The revival which has been in 
progress at the Baptist church for the 
past four weeks closed last Friday night. 
The labors of Dr. E. B. Dillard, the 
eloquent evangelist who conducted the 
meeting, were by no means fruitless, 
there having been about one hundred 
conversions, and most of them joined 
the Baptist Church. 

‘‘Dr. Dillard is an earnest worker, 
a pleasing speaker, and an apt illus- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 273 


trator; and back of all these good qual¬ 
ities is an earnest Christian’s desire to 
do good work in the Master^s vineyard. 
Hence it is not surprising that his 
efforts were followed by such glorious 
manifestations of faith. Another po¬ 
tent factor in the meeting was the sing¬ 
ing of Prof. King, who had charge of 
the singing during the meeting.” 

^‘The meeting at the Baptist church 
last night was one of the best of the 
series. The sermon was on the subject 
‘ Decision,^ and was a masterly effort. 
There was one conversion and several 
knelt for prayers. Four united with 
the church. Meeting this evening at 
7:30 ” 

^‘The services at the Baptist church 
yesterday were attended by large con¬ 
gregations. The hand of fellowship 
was given to twenty-seven new mem¬ 
bers. There was one addition to the 
church at the morning service. Every 
department of work in connection with 
this church has received a new impetus 
from the recent revival.” 



274 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


^‘The meeting at the Baptist church, 
under the lead of Rev. E. B. Dillard, 
is still in progress and is accomplish¬ 
ing the best results. The services 
have been held during this week, after¬ 
noon and night. At the night meet¬ 
ing especially the house is always 
crowded. The minister is greatly 
liked by the congregation. He is elo¬ 
quent in speech and zealous in work, 
though at all times discouraging every¬ 
thing like undue excitement or haste 
in offering for membership in the 
church. A deep religious feeling per¬ 
vades the congregation and the com¬ 
munity as well. To this time eighteen 
have been added to the church. The 
services will doubtless be closed Sun¬ 
day or Monday.” 

^^The meeting conducted by Elder 
E. B. Dillard at the Baptist church, fcfe- 
more than two weeks ;past, closed 
Wednesday night with twenty-seven 
additions. The ordinance of baptism 
was administered to eighteen converts 
Monday evening. Elder Dillard dur- 



COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT, ETC. 275 


iiig his stay made many friends among 
the people, regardless of church affilia¬ 
tion. He devotes his entire time and 
talent to the conversion of sinners, con¬ 
sidering the matter of church prefer¬ 
ence of minor importance, and all 
denominations will be benefited by his 
labors here. He grew upon the peo¬ 
ple at every service, his eloquent and 
impassioned appeals winning for him 
distinction as an orator and reverence 
as a devout minister.’^ 

‘^The services last evening were de-* 
lightful and encouraging, resulting in 
six more who came to the Lord’s side. 

Mr. Dillard’s talk on ‘ The Wagons in 
Egypt in the Days of Joseph’ was a 
characteristic one, logical and beau¬ 
tiful.’^ 

“ Dr. C. B. Dillard, Baptist evangel- St.Louis, 
ist, came to us December 11, 1893, and 
remained four weeks, preaching as only 
Dr. Dillard can preach, and at each ser¬ 
vice God’s power was manifested most 
wonderfully. There were about one 
hundred conversions. The Baptist 



276 COMMENTS FROM THE PUEPIT, ETC. 


church at this place has been greatly 
strengthened, and thanks God for send¬ 
ing such a man into its midst. Any 
church wishing the service of a good 
evangelist will be fortunate indeed if it 
can secure Dr. Dillard. He is a strong 
preacher, a thorough Baptist, and an 
excellent evangelist. While with me 
he was busily engaged in preparing for 
the press the following books: ^Evan¬ 
gelistic Work,^ ‘Book of Lectures,^ 
‘Book of Sermons,^ ‘Book of Songs for 
Revivals.’ I read much of the manu¬ 
script, and am satisfied that the books 
will have a ready sale. Quite a large 
number of them will be taken here. I 
have written these lines without Dr. 
Dillard’s knowledge of them, but felt I 
must say this much. 

“Geo. W. Norveel, 
Pastor Baptist ChurchP 



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